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News Joan Lee, Wife of Stan Lee, passes away at 93

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Poor Stan. :(

Joan Lee, the wife of Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee, died Thursday in Los Angeles. She was 93.

"I can confirm the sad news that Joan Lee passed away this morning quietly and surrounded by her family," a spokesperson for Stan Lee and his family said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "The family ask that you please give them time to grieve and respect their privacy during this difficult time."

Joan Lee suffered a stroke earlier in the week and was hospitalized, according to sources.

The former British hat model and Lee were married on Dec. 5, 1947, and were by all accounts hopelessly devoted to each other. They had two children: J.C. (Joan Celia), who was born in 1950, and Jan, who died three days after her birth in 1953.

Last year, Lee recounted how he met his wife in a story for THR that celebrated his 75th anniversary in comics. After a childhood sweetheart wed another woman, Joan Clayton impulsively married an American soldier during World War II and moved to New York, where she was extremely unhappy. Meanwhile, a cousin of Lee's wanted to set up the struggling writer with a hat model. Lee tells what happened next:

"When I was young, there was one girl I drew; one body and face and hair. It was my idea of what a girl should be. The perfect woman. And when I got out of the Army, somebody, a cousin of mine, knew a model, a hat model at a place called Laden Hats. He said, 'Stan, there's this really pretty girl named Betty. I think you’d like her. She might like you. Why don’t you go over and ask her to lunch.' Blah, blah, blah.

"So I went up to this place. Betty didn’t answer the door. But Joan answered, and she was the head model. I took one look at her — and she was the girl I had been drawing all my life. And then I heard the English accent. And I’m a nut for English accents! She said, 'May I help you?' And I took a look at her, and I think I said something crazy like, 'I love you.' I don’t remember exactly. But anyway, I took her to lunch. I never met Betty, the other girl. I think I proposed to [Joan] at lunch.”

In those days, the quickest way to get divorced was to move to Nevada and stay for six weeks to establish residency. Soon after Joan arrived in Reno, Stan received a letter from her addressed to "Jack," and that worried him.

“Now I’m not the smartest guy in world,” recalled Lee. “I know my name isn’t 'Jack.' And so why did she write 'Dear Jack?' Maybe I better go to Reno and see what’s going on. I got there and she was waiting for me. And there’s three guys with her. They all look like John Wayne. Big Western guys! Rugged! And I get off the plane fresh from New York with my little pork pie hat and a little scarf and my gloves. And she’s with me. I thought, 'I don’t have a chance.' Luckily, I had a chance.” A judge granted Joan her divorce and about an hour later, he married her and Lee in a room next door.
Click to expand...

Stan and Joan's brief cameo in X-Men: Apocalypse...

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Rest in peace, dear lady...
 
He won't be far behind her, more than likely... Very common when two people have been together that long.
 
Imagine being together for 70 years. Poor Stan. My condolences to all family and friends.

RIP, Joan (The Woman) Lee. :(
 
It's sad, but you can't say she didn't live a long life (I'll never make it to 93 <--- of that I'm fairly sure). I believe Stan himself is 95 or so.

RIP and condolences to Stan and their friends and family.
 
Here's an interview with Joan from 2002, produced as bonus material for the "Stan Lee's Monsters, Mutants & Marvels" DVD:

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Saddening news. In a sense we may owe her more than we realise, given that it was she who persuaded Stan Lee to take a creative chance with Fantastic Four #1, advice that seems to have led to the "Marvel Age" of comics.
 
RIP Joan Lee

I hope her family does well in this tough time. They were together such a long time, its amazing.
 
Very sad news. Wow that's got to be one of the longest marriages I've seen for a celebrity.
 
There have been plenty of celebs that stay happily married for life. You just don't hear much about them because it's not as interesting as those that don't!

DeForest Kelly stayed with his wife right up to the end.
 
Stan Lee on how he met Joan and on the genesis of the Marvel Universe:

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She was also Madame Webb on the animated series. See 1min 30sec.
 
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