Stephen Hillenburg

Stephen McDannell Hillenburg (August 21, 1961 – November 26, 2018) was an American marine biologist, marine science teacher, and animator best known for creating the Nickelodeon series SpongeBob SquarePants. He owned the series' production company, , and was also a writer for Rocko's Modern Life. In 1998, he married his wife Karen Hillenburg, whom he named Karen Plankton after. They had one son together.
On November 26, 2018, Hillenburg passed away from complications of (ALS).
His body Cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.
==Filmography==
====TV series====
Rocko's Modern Life
;Season 1
* 2b - "A Sucker For the Suck-O-Matic" - director, additional writing
* 4b - "Love Spanked" - director
* 6b - "Bedfellows" - director
* 8a - "Jet Scream" - director, additional writing
* 9a - "Keeping Up with the Bigheads" - director
* 11a - "Power Trip" - director
* 13a - "Cabin Fever" - director
;Season 2
* 14 - "I Have No Son" - director
* 15a - "Pipe Dreams" - story, direction and storyboard
* 18a - "Boob Tubed" - director
* 22a - "Born to Spawn" - director
* 24a - "Junk Junkies" - direction and storyboard, additional writing
* 25a - "Snowballs" - direction and storyboard
;Season 3
* 28a - "The Emperor's New Joe" - director
* 29b - "Belch of Destiny" - director
* 30b - "Old Fogey Froggy" - director
* 32b - "Fish-N-Chumps" - director
* 33b - "I See London, I See France" - direction and storyboard, additional writing
* 34b - "Fortune Cookie" - director
* 37 - "Wacky Delly" - director
;Season 4
* 43a - "Heff in a Handbasket" - story
* 48a - "Closet Clown" - story
* 49a - "Turkey Time" - story
* 50a - "Dumbbells" - story
* 52a - "Put to Pasture" - story
* 52b - "Future Schlock" - story
SpongeBob SquarePants
;Season 1
* 1a - "Help Wanted" - writer, storyboard director
* 2a - "Bubblestand" - writer
====Movies====
* The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) - director, producer, story, writer, storyboard, voice of the Parrot
* The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015) - story, executive producer, voice of Baby in Stroller
* The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020) - executive producer, in memory of
==Trivia==
*He served as the creative director/producer for the last season of Rocko's Modern Life.
*Hillenburg was the first Nicktoon creator to pass away, the second one Nicktoon creator to pass away was Janice Burgess the creator of Nick Jr's The Backyardigans who passed away on March 2, 2024 (The first Nick Jr. series creator if you count Nick Jr. separately), just a day after her 72nd birthday. The cause of her death was being diagnosed with breast cancer.
*According to Vincent Waller on Twitter, the episode "Pineapple RV" was the final SpongeBob episode to be fully finished before Stephen Hillenburg's death.https://twitter.com/VincentWaller72/status/1188891489041936386
*"Goons on the Moon" was the last SpongeBob episode to premiere during Hillenburg's lifetime.
*"The Nitwitting" was the first episode to premiere after Stephen Hillenburg's death.
*Nickelodeon Kart Racers was the last SpongeBob-related video game released during Stephen Hillenburg's lifetime.
*"SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout", which commemorated the series' 20th anniversary, and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run were dedicated to Hillenburg.
* According to Everybody's Talking: The Voices Behind SpongeBob SquarePants, Stephen Hillenburg originally practiced voicing Squidward in a 1996 tape recording before Rodger Bumpass was ultimately chosen for the role.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iAZweZPR7Y
==References==
Category:Creators
Category:Executive producers
Category:Storyboard artists
Category:Actors
Category:Writers
Category:Voice actors
Category:Producers
Category:SpongeBob SquarePants
Category:Rocko's Modern Life
Category:People
Category:1960s births
Category:2010s deaths
Category:Deceased people
Category:Directors