Creator of SpongeBob SquarePants Dies
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
SpongeBob SquarePants creator Stephen Hillenburg passed away on Monday at the age of 57.
He died from ALS, which he was diagnosed with in March of 2017.
“We are sad to share the news of the passing of Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of SpongeBob Squarepants. Today, we are observing a moment of silence to honor his life and work,” said Nickelodeon in a statement on Twitter.
About Hillenburg
Hillenburg was a nine-time Emmy nominee for SpongeBob, however, he never won.
At the Annie Awards in February, Hillenburg was awarded a Winsor McCay honor from his career contributions to animation.
SpongeBob premiered in May of 1999 and has are more than 250 episodes during its run.
The show has been adopted on two different occasions for movies, the first coming in 2004 with The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and then again in 2015 for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.
SpongeBob also made its way to the stage with a Broadway musical that won a Tony Award.
Prior to SpongeBob, Hillenburg wrote and directed Rocko’s Modern Life and Rugrats starting in 1993.