AKA Stanley Martin Lieber

Born: 28-Dec-1922
Birthplace: New York City

Gender: Male
Religion: Jewish [1]
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Cartoonist
Party Affiliation: Democratic

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Created Spider-Man and The Hulk

Military service: US Army Signal Corps

As is often the case with people who accomplish great things, Stan Lieber had a bit of an advantage. His cousin was married to Martin Goodman, the owner of Timely Comics. Lee started as a writer at age 16, just before the company changed its name to Marvel, and quickly worked his way up to head writer, editor and art director. His pen name, Stan Lee, was devised specifically to distance himself from the schlock of comic book writing. For decades, Marvel eschewed complex characters, and had an informal quota on words of three or more syllables. By the time Lee's midlife crisis came along, he knew he had to get out of the comic business -- or do just one comic book he could be proud of.

Working with Marvel's master artist Jack Kirby, Lee invented The Fantastic Four in 1961, and gave his teen superheroes utterly ordinary problems. They had zits and arguments with their parents. This combination of superhuman powers and human foibles quickly proved popular, and Lee began remaking the Marvel line -- Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the Amazing Thor, Daredevil, the X-Men, and more. For decades, Lee was amazingly prolific, scripting at least a couple of comic books virtually every week, and some weeks as many as five. He orchestrated and supervised Marvel's creative side, making sure each series was written and drawn by people who had the right creative spark.

Lee is now mostly retired from Marvel. He briefly oversaw his own Stan Lee Media, until it went down in a blaze of corruption in 2001. The company's vice president, Stephen Gordon and his brother, Jonathan, were convicted of wire fraud, bank fraud, and making false statements in connection with a check-kiting scheme. Lee himself was not indicted.

    High School: DeWitt Clinton High School, Bronx, NY

    Marvel Comics

    FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
    Iron Man (14-Apr-2008) Himself
    Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (13-Jun-2007)
    Spider-Man 3 (16-Apr-2007)
    X-Men: The Last Stand (22-May-2006)
    Fantastic Four (6-Jul-2005)
    The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (7-Aug-2004)
    Spider-Man 2 (30-Jun-2004)
    Comic Book: The Movie (27-Jan-2004) Himself
    Hulk (17-Jun-2003)
    Daredevil (9-Feb-2003)
    Parts of the Family (10-Jan-2003)
    Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (07-Apr-2001) [VOICE]
    X-Men (13-Jul-2000)
    Mallrats (20-Oct-1995) Himself
    The Ambulance (30-Aug-1990) Himself
    The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (07-May-1989)
    Comic Book Confidential (10-Sep-1988) Himself

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