Joanne Siegel, Widow of Superman Co-Creator and Inspiration for Lois Lane, Dies

Joanne Siegel, the widow of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel who served as the model for Lois Lane, has died, according to The Hollywood Reporter. She was 93.

Joanne (nee Carter) met Jerry as a teen in Cleveland in the 1930s after she placed an ad in a local paper offering to model. She soon became the inspiration for Superman's love interest, Lois Lane.

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After Jerry and his co-creator, Joe Shuster, failed to sell Superman to newspaper syndicates, DC Comics bought the character. He made his first appearance in Action Comics No. 1 in 1938.

In 1948, Jerry divorced his wife, Bella, and wed Joanne.

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After struggling as a comic-book writer, Jerry's fortunes changed in 1978 when the Siegels convinced DC Comics to give Jerry and Shuster a lifelong stipend upon the release of Warner Bros.' Superman. Three years after Jerry's death in 1999, the Siegel and Shuster families filed for partial ownership of the character. In 2008, a federal judge ruled that the families do own a large share of Superman, but the litigation against Warner Bros. is ongoing.

Joanne is survived by her daughter, Laura Siegel Larson.