Stephen McDannell Hillenburg, the mastermind behind Nickelodeon's beloved animated series SpongeBob SquarePants, was born on August 21, 1961, in Fort Sill, a United States Army post in Lawton, Oklahoma, to Nancy (Dufour) Hillenburg and Kelly Neugent Hillenburg Jr.
Growing up in Anaheim, California, Hillenburg developed a fascination with marine biology as a child, which later translated into an interest in art. He began his professional career in 1984 as a marine biology teacher at the Orange County Marine Institute, where he created a comic book titled 'The Intertidal Zone' to educate his students about tide-pool animals.
After leaving teaching in 1987, Hillenburg pursued a career in animation at the California Institute of the Arts, where he created short films like The Green Beret (1992) and Wormholes (1992). His success in these projects led to a job on the Nickelodeon animated series Rocko's Modern Life in 1989.
In 1994, Hillenburg began developing the characters and concepts for SpongeBob SquarePants, which premiered in 1999 and has since become a staple of American television. He also directed The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie in 2004, initially intending it to be the series finale, but Nickelodeon wanted more episodes, leading Hillenburg to resign as showrunner.
Hillenburg went on to create short films, including Hollywood Blvd, USA (2014),before returning to the SpongeBob franchise as an executive producer and co-writer for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water in 2015.
Throughout his career, Hillenburg received numerous accolades, including two Emmy Awards and six Annie Awards for SpongeBob SquarePants, as well as a commendation from Heal the Bay for his efforts in raising marine life awareness. Despite facing public controversies, Hillenburg remained dedicated to his work.
Tragically, Hillenburg was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS),also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in 2017. He continued to work on SpongeBob SquarePants for as long as possible before passing away at the age of 57 on November 26, 2018, in San Marino, California.
