# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/stephen-hillenburg
# Generated: 2026-08-31T16:43:40.860Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/stephen-hillenburg"
name: "Stephen Hillenburg"
slug: "stephen-hillenburg"
description: "He taught marine biology with homemade picture books about tide-pool creatures, then turned those drawings into a yellow sponge who lives in a pineapple — and built the fourth longest-running American animated series."
tagline: "American marine science educator and artist (1961-2018)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Stephen_Hillenburg_by_Carlos_Cazurro.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Artists"
  slug: "artists"
profileType:
  name: "Artist"
  slug: "artist"
birthDate: "1961-08-21"
deathDate: "2018-11-26"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           63.41
  momentum:             0.8657409072921539
  historical:           26.174652
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     65
  profileCompleteness:  75
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: 119
tags:
  - name: "Actors"
    slug: "actors"
  - name: "Movie Director"
    slug: "movie-director"
  - name: "Film Directing"
    slug: "film-directing"
  - name: "Television"
    slug: "television"
  - name: "Screenwriting"
    slug: "screenwriting"
  - name: "Movies"
    slug: "movies"
  - name: "Voice Acting"
    slug: "voice-acting"
  - name: "Painting"
    slug: "painting"
platforms:
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0384864/"
    handle:    "nm0384864"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hillenburg"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q318750"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Stephen%20Hillenburg"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%8A%D9%81%D9%86_%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%BA"
    title: "ستيفن هيلنبرغ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ary.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%8A%D9%81%D9%86_%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%BA"
    title: "ستيفن هيلنبرغ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%8A%D9%81%D9%86_%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%AC"
    title: "ستيفن هيلنبرج"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hillenburg"
    title: "Stephen Hillenburg"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%DB%8C%D9%88%D9%86_%D9%87%DB%8C%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%82"
    title: "استیون هیلنبرق"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stiven_Hillenburq"
    title: "Stiven Hillenburq"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bat_smg.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C4%ABvens_Hilenbergs"
    title: "Stīvens Hilenbergs"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bcl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hillenburg"
    title: "Stephen Hillenburg"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hillenburg"
    title: "Stephen Hillenburg"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hillenburg"
    title: "Stephen Hillenburg"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ckb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%D8%AA%DB%8C%DA%A4%D9%86_%DA%BE%DB%8C%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%86%D8%A8%DB%95%D8%B1%DA%AF"
    title: "ستیڤن ھیلینبەرگ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hillenburg"
    title: "Stephen Hillenburg"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hillenburg"
    title: "Stephen Hillenburg"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://diq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hillenburg"
    title: "Stephen Hillenburg"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A3%CF%84%CE%AF%CE%B2%CE%B5%CE%BD_%CE%A7%CE%AF%CE%BB%CE%B5%CE%BD%CE%BC%CF%80%CE%B5%CF%81%CE%B3%CE%BA"
    title: "Στίβεν Χίλενμπεργκ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eml.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hillenburg"
    title: "Stephen Hillenburg"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hillenburg"
    title: "Stephen Hillenburg"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hillenburg"
    title: "Stephen Hillenburg"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hillenburg"
    title: "Stephen Hillenburg"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hillenburg"
    title: "Stephen Hillenburg"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%DB%8C%D9%88%D9%86_%D9%87%DB%8C%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A8%D8%B1%DA%AF"
    title: "استیون هیلنبرگ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stiven_Hillenburq"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_Hillenburg"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://zh.wikiquote.org/wiki/%E5%8F%B2%E8%92%82%E8%8A%AC%C2%B7%E6%B5%B7%E4%BC%A6%E4%BC%AF%E6%A0%BC"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://musicbrainz.org/artist/f481e6d3-9be1-4757-b72f-af70c4ee5c23"
    title: "MusicBrainz"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://www.discogs.com/artist/399973"
    title: "Discogs"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hillenburg"
    title: "Stephen Hillenburg"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Stephen Hillenburg grew up in Anaheim fascinated by the ocean and began teaching marine biology at the Orange County Marine Institute in 1984, where he wrote and illustrated The Intertidal Zone to explain tide-pool animals to students. After two years he enrolled at CalArts in 1989 to study animation, and his student short films earned him a job on Rocko's Modern Life in 1993. In 1994 he started adapting his Intertidal Zone characters into SpongeBob SquarePants, which Nickelodeon launched in 1999 and has aired continuously since. He directed the 2004 movie intending it as a finale, then stepped back as showrunner but stayed on as executive producer. Diagnosed with ALS in 2017, he kept working until he died the following November at 57, leaving behind two Emmys, six Annies, and a sponge that outlived him.