Joan Boocock Lee | |
|---|---|
 Joan B. Lee with her husbandStan and daughter Joan "J. C." Lee in the 1950s | |
| Born | Joan Boocock[1] (1922-02-05)5 February 1922[a] Gosforth,Newcastle upon Tyne, England |
| Died | 6 July 2017(2017-07-06) (aged 95) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1981–2016 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | Joan Celia Lee Jan Lee |
Joan Boocock Lee (5 February 1922 – 6 July 2017) was a British actress. She was the wife of comic book creatorStan Lee, whom she met inNew York City in the 1940s while working as a hat model. In her later years, Lee became a voice actress and appeared in theSpider-Man andFantastic Four animated series in the 1990s.Kevin Smith referred to Joan as "Stan's personal superhero" and "Marvel Muse".
Joan Boocock's birth was registered in the first quarter of 1922 inCastle Ward Rural District (later part ofNewcastle'sMetropolitan Borough) according to her birth register records.[2] Her father, Norman Dunton Boocock married her mother Hannah Clayton in the Castle Ward district ofNorthumberland in 1920.[5] In one interview, she stated that she was born inGosforth,Newcastle, and grew up there and inFawdon.[6] AfterWorld War II, she relocated to theUnited States as awar 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]
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 toReno, Nevada in order to nullify her previous marriage. On 5 December 1947, she received anannulment 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 three days after delivery in 1953.[12] As aninterfaith couple they subsequently faced difficultyadopting.[13] In 1949, the couple bought a two-story, three-bedroom home inWoodmere, Long Island, living there through 1952.[14]
Lee credited Joan as being the inspiration for early incarnations of theFantastic Four.[citation needed] She was also the inspiration ofGwen Stacy,Spider-Man's second girlfriend in the comics.[15]
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 inFantastic Four in 1994, voicing a reoccurring character. She voiced a computer in theIron Man television series for three episodes in 1994.[16] She later appeared inSpider-Man asMadame Web,[17] appearing in eight episodes from 1996 to 1998.[16]
In 2002, she appeared as herself alongside Stan Lee andKevin Smith inStan Lee's Mutants, Monsters & Marvels. In 2003, she appeared as herself in the documentaryComic Book Superheroes Unmasked. In 2010, she appeared in a documentary about her husband calledWith Great Power: The Stan Lee Story.[16] Lee made her last appearance in a cameo in the 2016 filmX-Men: Apocalypse alongside her husband.[18]
In 1987, Joan Lee wroteThe Pleasure Palace, her first novel.[19] According to her daughter, Joan had also completed three unpublished novels.[20]
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.[21]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Iron Man | Computer Voice | Voice | [22] |
| Fantastic Four | Miss Forbes | Voice | [22] | |
| 1996–98 | Spider-Man: The Animated Series | Madame Web | Voice | [22] |
| 2002 | Stan Lee's Mutants, Monsters & Marvels | Herself | Documentary | [16] |
| 2003 | Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked | Herself | Documentary | [16] |
| 2010 | With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story | Herself | Documentary | [16] |
| 2016 | X-Men: Apocalypse | Joanie Lee | Live-action, cameo | [22] |
