Biography for
Stan Lee (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

28 December 1922, New York City, New York, USA

Birth Name

Stanley Martin Lieber

Nickname

The Man
Generalissimo

Height

5' 11" (1.80 m)

Spouse

Joan Lee

(5 December 1947 - present) 2 children

Trade Mark

Often narrated animated series featuring his Marvel Comics characters

He often named his characters in alliterate patterns like Peter Parker and Sue Storm to help remember their names.

Wears signature dark sunglasses

Often has cameos in the films based on his comics

Often refers to faithful fans as "true believers."

Closed most fan letters or personal contributions by using his trademark catchphrase, "'Nuff said"

Stories are frequently set in New York City

His characters are often ordinary individuals caught up in extraordinary circumstances

Characters are often highly intelligent and work as scientists

Moustache

Often uses Superhero stories as metaphors for social issues,e.g, the X-Men were representative of discrimination

Unusually for Comic book heroes, his characters almost never wear capes

Catchphrase: Excelsior!

Distinctive, upbeat manner and style of speaking

Trivia

He is credited as creating the Marvel Comics characters in the 1960s which introduced more complex characterizations for super-heroes. He also is credited for popularizing continuity to give the various series a sense of narrative flow and an interrelated common world for the characters. However, since the "plot first" writing method he used meant that the artists he collaborated with, especially Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, served as essentially co-writers, the matter who truly deserves the credit for the creations from such collaborations is a matter of vigorous debate.

Apart from his participation in the creation of the classic Marvel Comics characters, he also helped weaken censorship in the mainstream comics field. This happened when, after a formal request by the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, he decided to do a story about the problem of drug abuse. The story he wrote in 1971 for "The Amazing Spider-Man" concerned Peter Parker's friend Harry Osborne having a bad trip on LSD and nearly dying from it. The Comics Code Authority declared that they would not give their seal of approval to the three-issue arc on the grounds that the code, which was notorious for being draconian, would not allow the depiction of drug use even when it is portrayed negatively. Confident that the original government request would give him credibility and with the support of his publisher, Martin Goodman, Lee decided to defy the CCA and published the story as is without the seal and received healthy sales and a positive public reaction for his efforts in portraying the social problem. Soon after, the CCA changed their rules to allow for anti-drug messages in comics.

Brother of Larry Lieber.

Disliked the 1970s live-action Spiderman TV series (for which he was a script consultant), deeming it "too juvenile." He also felt that Spiderman was being treated on the show as a "cardboard character."

He ended his weekly "Stan's Soapbox" column (which appeared in every Marvel comic book) with the phrase "Excelsior."

Daughter is model/actress Joan Celia J.C. Lee (b. 1950). His other daughter, Jan Lee, died shortly after birth (1953).

He first began to work on comics in 1941 on the 3rd issue of Captain America.

His 3 most famous comic book creations are: Fantastic Four (Debut November 1961), the Incredible Hulk (Debut May 1962) and the Amazing Spiderman (Debut August 1962 in 'Amazing Fantasy' # 15).

Entered the comic book scene at 17 as assistant editor for the Timely comics group. In 1942, he was promoted to editor.

1972 becomes publisher and editorial director of Marvel

Admitted he'd always hoped to play the character of J. Jonah Jameson in a film adaptation of Spider-Man, though he conceded he was too old to even be considered by the time the film was actually made and praised J.K. Simmons for his performance in the role.

Has it written into his contract that he appears in any movie based upon a Marvel character that he is credited with. So far he has appeared as the Hot Dog Vendor in X-Men (2000), Man in Fair in Spider-Man (2002), Old Man at Crossing in Daredevil (2003), Security Guard in Hulk (2003), Man Dodging Debris in Spider-Man 2 (2004), Willie Lumpkin in Fantastic Four (2005/I), Waterhose Man in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Man in Times Square in Spider-Man 3 (2007), Rejected Wedding Guest in Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), the man whom Tony Stark mistakes for Hugh Hefner in Iron Man (2008) and an uncredited appearance as the man who drinks the soft drink contaminated with Bruce Banner's blood in The Incredible Hulk (2008). The only one he has not appeared in was X2 (2003). Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), where he appears as a US Army general, is a partial exception; he did not create the character, but he created the character's signature move of throwing his shield in a early text story and was at least partially responsible for successfully reviving him in the 1960s as member of the Avengers.

Judy Garland's daughter, Lorna Luft, lived with Lee and his family for a period of time while her mother was in rehab in the 1960s. Stan's daughter, J.C. Lee, and Luft were friends and Lorna stayed with the family for about a month until she went to California to live with her father.

He was awarded the 2008 American National Medal of the Arts for his services to comic books and production.

Was a longtime friend of comic writer and artist Carmine Infantino, who was also president of DC Comics for several years.

After his retirement from work at Marvel he was invited to do a limited edition series for DC Comics, Marvel's principal rival. The series, titled 'Just Imagine', presented the feature DC characters -- Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash -- with different backgrounds and stories, as Stan Lee would have written them.

Despises the idea of sidekicks, which is why virtually none of the Marvel characters had them.

He was a juror in a dream sequence in The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (1989) (TV).

Pow! Entertainment chairman and founder.

He is often asked where he got the idea for his famous quote, "With great power comes great responsibility." He says, "It just came to me.".

He has worked with Chris Evans on four different films: Fantastic Four (2005/I), Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and The Avengers (2012).

Along with Lou Ferrigno, he is one of only two actors to appear in both Hulk (2003) and The Incredible Hulk (2008).

Offered Luke Lieberman his first job, working at POW! Entertainment.

Will be honored with the Visual Effects Society's Lifetime Achievement Award [October 19, 2011].

First cousin of Mel Stuart.

Personal Quotes

I felt someday I'd write the Great American Novel and I didn't want to use my real name on these silly little comics" [about why he changed his name to Stan Lee to begin with.]

If a character had the first initial in both names, I could at least remember one of the names" [his reason for creating characters with the same initial... bad memory]

I've had the same thing for years. I have orange juice and then I have cereal. I have granola with berries and sliced bananas and a cup of coffee and man it's great. I'm a creature of habit. [When asked about what he has for breakfast.]

The X-Men are basically just me being really lazy. If I said that their powers came from a mutation that would be it. I wouldn't have to explain it any further.

Where Are They Now

(2002) Lee published his autobiography "Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee."

(2005) Just started his own Comic Book company called Kapow Comics

(December 2008) Los Angeles, California