Joan Boocock Lee
Joan B. Lee with husband Stan and daughter Joan "J. C." Lee in the 1950s
Born
Joan Boocock[1]

(1922-02-05)5 February 1922[lower-alpha 1]
Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Died6 July 2017(2017-07-06) (aged 95)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Voice actress, model
Years active1981–2016
Spouses
  • Sanford Weiss
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1943; ann. 1947)​
  • ​
    (m. 1947)​
Children2

Joan Boocock Lee (5 February 1922 – 6 July 2017) was a British-American model and voice actress. She was the wife of comic book creator Stan Lee, whom she met in New York City in the 1940s while working as a hat model. In her later years, Lee became a voice actress and appeared in the Spider-Man and Fantastic Four animated series in the 1990s. Kevin Smith referred to Joan as "Stan's personal superhero" and "Marvel Muse".

Early life

Joan Boocock's birth was registered in the first quarter of 1922 in Castle Ward Rural District (now part of Newcastle's Metropolitan Borough) according to her birth register records.[2] Her father, Norman Dunton Boocock married her mother Hannah Clayton in the Castle Ward district of Northumberland in 1920.[5] In one interview, she stated that she was born in Gosforth, Newcastle, and grew up there and in Fawdon.[6] After World War II, she relocated to the United States as a war bride after marrying an American serviceman,[6] Sanford Dorf Weiss,[7] whom she had only known for 24 hours prior to their marriage in 1943.[8] Boocock was a well-known hat model prior to her marriage to Weiss. She separated from Weiss not long after.[9]

Marriage to Stan Lee

Lee's cousin had set him up on a blind date with a different model at the agency where Joan worked. When Lee went to the modelling agency to meet his intended date, Joan answered the door instead. Upon seeing her he immediately professed his love for her and told her he had been drawing her face since childhood.[10][3]

Lee proposed after two weeks of dating, and she went to Reno, Nevada in order to nullify her previous marriage. On 5 December 1947, she received an annulment for her previous marriage, then married Lee in the room next door.[6][8][3][11] Together, they had two daughters, Joan Celia "J. C." Lee (b. 1950), and Jan Lee, who died eight days after delivery in 1953.[12][13] As an interfaith couple they subsequently faced difficulty adopting.[14] In 1949, the couple bought a two-story, three-bedroom home in Woodmere, Long Island, living there through 1952.[15]

Lee credited Joan as being the inspiration for early incarnations of the Fantastic Four. She was also the inspiration of Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man's second girlfriend in the comics.[16]

Career

In 1981, Stan and Joan Lee moved from New York City to Los Angeles. There, she lent her voice to several animated Marvel shows in the 1990s. She first appeared in Fantastic Four in 1994, voicing a reoccurring character. She voiced a computer in the Iron Man television series for three episodes in 1994.[17] She later appeared in Spider-Man as Madame Web,[18] appearing in eight episodes from 1996 to 1998.[17]

In 2002, she appeared as herself alongside Stan Lee and Kevin Smith in Stan Lee's Mutants, Monsters & Marvels. In 2003, she appeared as herself in the documentary Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked. In 2010, she appeared in a documentary about her husband called With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story.[17] Lee made her last appearance in a cameo in the 2016 film X-Men: Apocalypse alongside her husband.[19]

Writing

In 1987, Joan Lee wrote The Pleasure Palace, her first novel.[20] According to her daughter, Joan had also completed three unpublished novels.[21]

Death

Lee died on 6 July 2017, in Los Angeles from stroke-related complications with her husband of almost 70 years and their daughter, Joan, at her bedside.[22]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes Ref
1994 Iron Man Computer Voice Voice [23]
1994 Fantastic Four Miss Forbes Voice [23]
1996–1998 Spider-Man Madame Web Voice [23]
2002 Stan Lee's Mutants, Monsters & Marvels Herself Documentary [17]
2003 Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked Herself Documentary [17]
2010 With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story Herself Documentary [17]
2016 X-Men: Apocalypse Joanie Lee Live-action, cameo [23]

Notes

  1. ↑ Although several sources gave her age as 93 at the time of her death, British birth records show she was, in fact, 95 years old.[2][3][4]

References

  1. ↑ "Lee, Stan 1922–". Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  2. 1 2 "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008". FamilySearch. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 Andy Lewis (6 July 2017). "Joan Lee Dead: Wife of Comics Legend Stan Lee Dies at 95". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  4. ↑ Todd Leopold; Lisa Respers France; Brian Lowry. "Stan Lee, Marvel Comics visionary, dead at 95". CNN. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  5. ↑ "England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005". Ancestry. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 "Comic book legend Stan Lee inspired by Newcastle-born wife". Chronicle Live. 23 February 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  7. ↑ "England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005". Ancestry.
  8. 1 2 "Stan Lee, Creator of Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, Is America's Biggest Mythmaker". People. 29 January 1979. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  9. ↑ "Joan Lee, wife of comics legend Stan Lee, dies at age 93". ABC News. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  10. ↑ Batchelor, Bob (2017). Stan Lee: The Man behind Marvel. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 51. ISBN 9781442277823. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  11. ↑ Lovece, Frank (3 August 1994). "Lee's work a marvel to behold". The Daily Chronicle. DeKalb, Illinois. p. 33. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  12. ↑ "Stan & Joan Lee's Love Story". Daily Entertainment News. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  13. ↑ Lee, Mair, p. 69
  14. ↑ Joan Boocock Lee; Stan Lee (2010). With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story. Event occurs at 0:47:20. OCLC 1038407559.
  15. ↑ Lewine. "Images 4–5". Archived from the original on 24 April 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
  16. ↑ Vincent, Alice (7 July 2017). "Joan Lee, inspiration behind Spider-Man's Gwen Stacy and wife of Marvel mastermind Stan Lee, dies aged 93". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jenna Busch (6 July 2017). "RIP Joan Lee, Wife of Stan Lee, Dead at 93". Comic Soon.net. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  18. ↑ Patrick Hipes (6 July 2017). "Joan Lee Dies: Wife Of Comics Icon Stan Lee Was 93 [sic]". Deadline. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  19. ↑ Corey Chichizola (27 May 2016). "Stan Lee's X-Men: Apocalypse Cameo Had a Very Special Guest". CinemaBlend. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  20. ↑ Kate Feldman (6 July 2017). "Joan Lee, wife of Marvel legend Stan Lee, dead at 93 [sic]". The New York Daily News. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  21. ↑ "Joan Lee, Wife of Marvel Comics Legend Stan Lee, Dies at 95". The Hollywood Reporter. 6 July 2017.
  22. ↑ Abigail Abrams (6 July 2017). "Joan B. Lee: Wife of Comics Legend Stan Lee, Dies at 93 [sic]". TIME. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  23. 1 2 3 4 "Joan Lee, wife of comics legend Stan Lee, dies at age 93". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
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