Stanton was born  in Brooklyn, New York, to a family of Russian origins. He was forced to interrupt his studies, during the Second World War, to become a radio operator on a torpedo boat in the Pacific war against Japan. Back home he tried various jobs as knife-thrower, waiter, grave-digger and waiter, until he finally met Irving Klaw, the 'King of Pin-ups'. He began to work for him, and the collaboration continued until Klaw's death in 1964. Stanton was a self-made man. He only took his first formal drawing lessons in 1952 when he was already working full-time.