--- description: Joan Lee, the wife of famed Marvel Comics writer Stan Lee, died on Thursday. The couple had been married for 69 years title: Joan Lee, Wife of Comics Legend Stan Lee, Dies at 93 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27b43f5aef2368a7/6988d4c9fb4eac1a7d892cda/stan-lee-marvel-joan-lee.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Joan Lee, Wife of Comics Legend Stan Lee, Dies at 93 by [Abigail Abrams](/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 7, 2017 12:39 AM CUT  Comic book artist Stan Lee (R) and Joan B. Lee attend the 23rd annual Producers Guild Awards at The Beverly Hilton hotel on Jan. 21, 2012 in Beverly Hills, California. Comic book artist Stan Lee (R) and Joan B. Lee attend the 23rd annual Producers Guild Awards at The Beverly Hilton hotel on Jan. 21, 2012 in Beverly Hills, California.Kevin Winter—Getty Images for PGA by [Abigail Abrams](/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 7, 2017 12:39 AM CUT Joan Lee, the wife of famed Marvel Comics writer Stan Lee, died on Thursday. The 93-year-old died in Los Angeles, according to [_Entertainment Weekly_](http://ew.com/news/2017/07/06/joan-lee-dead-wife-stan-lee-dies-93/ "undefined")_._ A spokesperson for the family told _EW_ that she “passed away this morning quietly and surrounded by her family,” adding “the family ask that you please give them time to grieve and respect their privacy during this difficult time.” Joan, a former hat model, married Lee in 1947\. When she initially met the comics writer, she was married to an American soldier and Stan had been set up on a date with a friend of hers, according to _EW._ But after the pair decided they liked each other, they married just six weeks later. Last year, Stan recalled how he met his wife and how he knew she was the one right away. “She was the girl I had been drawing all my life,” he told [_The Hollywood Reporter_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/stan-lee-stan-lee-comic-912922/item/1939-paperboy-stan-lee-timeline-912903 "undefined"). The couple had two children, according to _EW_. Throughout the course of her career, Joan did [voice acting](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1643074/ "undefined") for the Marvel animated series _Fantastic Four_ and _Spider-Man_, and published a 1987 novel called _The Pleasure Palace._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4848461/joan-lee-dies-wife-stan-lee-marvel/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4848461/joan-lee-dies-wife-stan-lee-marvel/"},"headline":"Joan Lee, Wife of Comics Legend Stan Lee, Dies at 93","datePublished":"2017-07-07T00:39:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T11:06:39.907Z","description":"The couple had been married for 69 years","url":"https://time.com/4848461/joan-lee-dies-wife-stan-lee-marvel/","keywords":["celebrities","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27b43f5aef2368a7/6988d4c9fb4eac1a7d892cda/stan-lee-marvel-joan-lee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abigail Abrams","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27b43f5aef2368a7/6988d4c9fb4eac1a7d892cda/stan-lee-marvel-joan-lee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The 23rd Annual Producers Guild Awards - Cocktail Reception","caption":"The 23rd Annual Producers Guild Awards - Cocktail Reception","creditText":"Kevin Winter—Getty Images for PGA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4848461/joan-lee-dies-wife-stan-lee-marvel/","name":"Joan Lee, Wife of Comics Legend Stan Lee, Dies at 93"}}]}] ```