J.C. Lee, daughter of the late Marvel mastermind, tells PEOPLE what he was like when he was at home: “Not a drinker, not a smoker,” and he “could have run for President”
It was a marvelous life growing up with as a dad.
“It was magical,” , the Marvel mastermind’s daughter, tells PEOPLE of her childhood growing up in both Long Island and, later, Los Angeles. “My mom and I thought he was the smartest, greatest, funniest, most elegant, hardest worker ever.”
The famed cartoonist, who co-created characters like Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Thor, the X-Men, Ant-Man and The Wasp, was born Stanley Martin Lieber in New York City in 1922.
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He got his start working as a writer at a comic company called Timely Comics, which was later rebranded as Marvel, where he was the creative lead for two decades. But according to J.C., he had other aspirations as well.
“Stan always wished he was younger and could have run for president,” says J.C., 74. “He said he would have won. He was a real thinker and as smart as they come. He read both political and funny comics but always kept up with current events through radio and TV.”
“What was going on in the world was very important to him. He also had a wicked sense of humor — he was a brilliant speaker and thinker. He was also so gentle and kind and loved dogs.”
As for his favorite character? She says it was Spidey.
“We all loved Spider-Man,” she says. “Spider-Man was the real brother of mine and part of the family. All the characters sat at the table with me and lived in the house with me, Stan, and my mother. As an only child, they were like siblings to me.”
She adds that her dad also had a fondness for a character that never saw the light of day: “I would say that Stan had a special place in his heart for his one undone baby, the Silver Surfer.”
Lee retired from the company in the ’90s but remained the face of the brand, often making cameos in Marvel movies and TV shows . “He did over 50 cameos,” Lee says.
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But according to his daughter, despite all of his fame and accolades, he was at heart a family man, determined to give his daughter the best life.
“Oh, the life was wonderful,” she says. “I met counts, and I met princes, and I met the top movie stars and intellects. Michael Jackson would come over with the babies, and my mother would help him change diapers.”
She continues, “Jon Voight, James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sylvester Stallone and Andrew Dice Clay were all famous fans of Stans. Stan was friends with Lou Ferrigno, the original Incredible Hulk from the 1970s TV show, Bob Kane, the creator of Batman, Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds. He was also friends with Ronald Regan, Bill Clinton. They would call him all the time!”
Lee credits her father’s success with his endless drive.
“He had an amazing work ethic,” she says. “He would work all day, come home and have dinner with his family, and then go back to work. I think I inherited that from him. When I set my mind to complete a particular painting or series of paintings, I work late into the night, sometimes forgetting to eat. Stan would say, ‘Failing doesn’t matter! Not trying is the sin!’ “
Despite his workaholic tendencies, Lee says he was deeply devoted to her and her mother, Joan Boocock, a singer from England who married Lee in 1947. She died in 2017.
“We were his greatest muses,” she says. “My mom was the one who came up with the name Marvel, and my dad would joke that the Hulk was inspired by my toddler tantrums.”
Lee says her mother and father were perfect companions in life. “It was a great marriage and a great love story.” Still, they faced plenty of heartbreak, especially when J.C.’s twin sister Jan died three days after the two were born in 1950.
“They were distraught,” she says of her parents losing one of their daughters. “They couldn’t have more children because, at the time, you couldn’t have more than one cesarean section.”
Adoption wasn’t an option. “My mom was Church of England and British; my dad was Jewish and American. They tried, but it wasn’t in the cards.”
One thing people might not guess about the Marvel figurehead was how strictly regimented he was. “He also didn’t drink, didn’t smoke, and he would never have allowed his characters to drink or smoke,” she says.
She adds that he still loved having fun. “Loved it,” she says. “He would play ping-pong, roller-skate, bike ride, and dance.” And he loved his fans and embraced his popularity.
“It was never a problem,” she says of fans coming up to him to tell him how much his creations meant to them. “He was so for the people, and he’d worked so hard for that.”
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