(CNN) Stan Lee , the colorful Marvel Comics patriarch who helped usher in a new era of superhero storytelling -- and saw his creations become a giant influence in the movie business -- has died.

He was 95.

Kirk Schneck, an attorney for Lee's daughter, tells CNN the comic giant was taken by ambulance from his Los Angeles home on Monday morning to Cedar's Sinai Medical Center, where he later died. The cause of death is not yet known, according to Schneck.

Lee began his career at what was then Timely Comics in 1939. Over the years he was a writer, editor and occasional illustrator. But, bored with the output, he was preparing to leave the company when history took a sudden turn.

For many years, the business had been dominated by DC (then National) Comics, creators of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the Green Lantern.

In the late '50s, DC started reimagining its heroes -- kicking off what comics historians call the "Silver Age" of the business -- but those figures were still, largely, otherworldly and two-dimensional, living in made-up places such as Metropolis and Gotham City.

Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Stan Lee poses next to a Spider-Man model at his office in 2008. Lee, who co-created Spider-Man and many other popular comic book characters that have become household names, died Monday, November 12, at the age of 95. Hide Caption 1 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee, born Stanley Martin Lieber, holds up comic book art during the 1970s. In 1941, he became the editor at Timely Comics, which evolved into Marvel Comics. Hide Caption 2 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee reads a comic in the '70s. He and his collaborators at Marvel introduced characters in the 1960s that included the Fantastic Four, the Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man and the X-Men. Hide Caption 3 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee talks to actor Nicholas Hammond during the filming of the television series "The Amazing Spider-Man" in 1978. Hide Caption 4 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee poses for a portrait in 1978. Hide Caption 5 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee takes a phone call at his New York offices in 1980. Hide Caption 6 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee was born and raised in New York City. He served in the US Army during World War II, writing manuals and scripts for training films as part of the Signal Corps. He is one of only nine people in the Army listed as a "playwright." Hide Caption 7 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee in 1993. He became Marvel's publisher in 1972. Hide Caption 8 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee poses with a few Marvel heroes in 1997. Hide Caption 9 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee attends an event with his wife, Joan, in 1997. She died in 2017. Hide Caption 10 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee In 2000, Lee compares muscles with Lou Ferrigno, who once played the Incredible Hulk on television. Hide Caption 11 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee autographs a man's leg during a book premiere in 2001. Hide Caption 12 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee arrives with actress Kirsten Dunst for the premiere of the film "Spider-Man" in 2002. Dunst played Mary Jane Watson in the film. Hide Caption 13 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee poses by a cake celebrating Spider-Man's 40th anniversary. Hide Caption 14 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee and film producer Ian Bryce accept a Faith and Values Award for the "Spider-Man" film in 2003. Hide Caption 15 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee and his wife arrive for an awards gala in 2004. They were married in 1947. Hide Caption 16 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee relaxes in his Los Angeles office. Lee championed close collaboration between comic book writers and artists. The collaborative approach was known as the "Marvel Method." In 2010, he told CNN, "All of my life in comics I have worked with artists, so I've collaborated with them. I would write down the original story, they would draw it and then I would edit it and do the art direction. So everything I've done has always been a collaboration." Hide Caption 17 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Stan Lee holds the "All Time Marvel Legend Award" that was given to him at Comic-Con in 2007. Hide Caption 18 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee appears in the 2007 film "Spider-Man 3." He has made cameos in nearly every Marvel movie, often providing comic relief. His roles over the years have included hot-dog vendor, postal worker, security guard and astronaut. Hide Caption 19 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee gets a lifetime achievement award at the Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival in 2007. Hide Caption 20 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee signs an "Iron Man" mask in 2008. Hide Caption 21 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee shakes hands with US President George W. Bush after receiving a National Medal of Arts in 2008. Hide Caption 22 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee accepts the Comic-Con Icon award in 2009. Hide Caption 23 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011. Hide Caption 24 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee attends the Los Angeles premiere of "The Avengers" in 2012. Hide Caption 25 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee is presented with a birthday cake for his 91st birthday in 2013. Hide Caption 26 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee In 2014, Lee tours the Avengers exhibition at Discovery Times Square. Hide Caption 27 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee's daughter, Joan, surprises her father at a Comic-Con panel in 2016. Hide Caption 28 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee poses with Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Josh Reddick after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a game in 2016. Hide Caption 29 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee plays a strip-club DJ in the 2016 film "Deadpool." Hide Caption 30 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee leaves his handprints and footprints outside the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood in July 2017. Hide Caption 31 of 32 Photos: Comic book legend Stan Lee Lee shakes hands with "Black Panther" star Chadwick Boseman at the film's premiere in January 2018. Hide Caption 32 of 32

In the early '60s, Lee was asked to come up with a team of superheroes to compete against DC's Justice League. With the notable help of artists such as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he helped instigate a revolution, though Lee didn't see it that way at the time.

"If my publisher hadn't said 'let's do superhero stories,' I'd probably still be doing 'A Kid Called Outlaw,' 'The Two-Gun Kid' or 'Millie the Model' or whatever I was doing at the time," he told CNN in 2013.

Marvel revitalized the comics business with a series of flawed, more human superheroes. Its figures lived in the real world -- a few were based in New York City, with all its dirt and clamor -- and struggled with everyday challenges, whether it was paying the rent or wondering about their purposes in life.

First came the Fantastic Four, a superhero team probably most famous for the grumpy, rock-skinned Thing. Following that success Lee and Marvel introduced such characters as Spider-Man, the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, the X-Men and Daredevil.

These new superheroes -- all created in a burst between 1961 and 1964 -- were hugely popular and allowed Marvel to surpass DC in both sales and fashionableness.

Spider-Man, in particular, became the imprint's signature character: a neurotic photographer named Peter Parker who, after being bitten by a radioactive spider, develops spider-like powers. Parker was forever clashing with newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson (an angry, cigar-chomping martinet who was no Perry White), wondering about his relationship with Mary Jane Watson and worrying about his fragile Aunt May. Crime fighting was the least of his concerns.

"I never thought that Spider-Man would become the worldwide icon that he is. I just hoped the books would sell and I'd keep my job," Lee said in 2006.

Many of the characters were developed for television with varying degrees of success. But it was the emergence of the "Marvel Universe" in the movies, especially with the "X-Men" franchise and the Sam Raimi-directed "Spider-Man" (2002), that truly made the brand ubiquitous. In 2009, the Walt Disney Company purchased Marvel Entertainment -- the licensing arm of the comic-book brand -- for $4 billion.

By that point, Lee had long since become more of a company figurehead rather than a writer and editor in the day-to-day trenches. He became the company's editorial director and publisher in 1972 and eventually immersed himself in spreading the Marvel gospel (often with the exclamation, "Excelsior!") He's had bit parts in most of the films featuring the company's characters.

He was occasionally criticized for egotistically cheerleading for himself as much as Marvel. "Stan the Brand," the authors of "Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book" called him, pointedly.

It wasn't all joy for Lee. Though the success of the movies made the characters worth billions, Lee maintained that he saw little of that wealth. Even so, he saw more than artist Kirby, who many comics historians credit with molding a number of characters. Over the years, the credit for the characters -- and, therefore, the profits -- has been the subject of court cases, some involving Kirby or his family.

The characters' impact, however, is indisputable.

Marvel characters are known the world over, and its films have become huge successes.

"I used to be embarrassed because I was just a comic-book writer while other people were building bridges or going on to medical careers," he told the Washington Post. "And then I began to realize: entertainment is one of the most important things in people's lives. Without it they might go off the deep end. I feel that if you're able to entertain people, you're doing a good thing."

He retained a lifelong passion for the medium he helped mold, and wouldn't tolerate disdain.

"Comic book should be written as one word. So from now on, I want you to remember that," he said in a 2012 YouTube video. "They are not funny books. They are not comic books, they are comicbooks! Remember that, or incur my wrath."

The couple had a true partnership and Marvel fans came to know Joan Lee for her voice-over work as Miss Forbes and Madame Web in the animated versions of "Fantastic Four" and "Spider-Man." She also had a cameo in "X-Men: Apocalypse" in 2016.

"The whole thing has been confusing to everyone, including myself and the fans, but I am now happy to be surrounded by those who want the best for me," Lee said in a statement. "I am thrilled to put the lawsuit behind me, get back to business with my friends and colleagues at POW! and launch the next wave of amazing characters and stories!"