Table of Biography
Stephen Hillenburg is an American animator and marine science teacher. Stephen Hillenburg is best known for creating the “Nickelodeon” animated television series known as “SpongeBob SquarePants”. He worked as the leading producer for the first three seasons of the show. The show is now the longest-running animated series in America.
Early Life and Childhood
Stephen McDannell Hillenburg best known as Stephen Hillenburg was born on August 21, 1961, in Lawton, Oklahoma, in the United States of America.
Stephen was an American citizen and had a sun sign of Leo. He was the elder son of (father) Kelly N. Hillenburg Jr. and (mother) Nancy Dufour.
After Stephen’s birth, his father Kelly left the military to work as a draftsman and designer for an aerospace company. Nancy, his mother, was a teacher of visually impaired students. The family subsequently moved to California from Lawton, Oklahoma.
Moreover, he grew up with his brother Bryan Hillenburg. His brother Bryan followed in the footsteps of his father and became an aircraft designer.
Stephen has been fascinated by the underwater world since he was a teen. He became interested in marine life after seeing the film by Jacques Cousteau, a French oceanographer.
He later said that Cousteau’s film gave him an idea of the underwater world that he had never known existed before watching the oceanographer’s film.
Education
Talking about Stephen’s educational life, he studied at ‘Savanna High School.’ Where he had also developed an interest in art. His art inspiration was his maternal grandmother who was an excellent painter.
He also used to play music while studying in school. Furthermore, he attended ‘Humboldt State University in California and studied marine science. Moreover, he also studied art in college and prepared himself for a future in art and marine science.
Death
Stephen died of cardiopulmonary failure caused by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis on November 26, 2018, at the age of 57.
Professional career
Caption: Stephen Hillenburg created the animated character SpongeBob (Source: The New York Times)
Animation
Talking about his profession, he made his first animated works, short films “The Green Beret” and “Wormholes” at CalArts in 1992. “The Green Beret,” tells the story of a Girl Scout with massive fists who sells cookies and crushes all the houses with one knock at the door.
“Wormholes” was Stephen’s graduation thesis on the theory of relativity, which earned a Princess Grace Foundation Graduate Film Scholarship.
His first professional job in the animation industry was the animated series called “Rocko’s Modern Life” which aired on Nickelodeon from 1993 to 1996. In 1992, he met the show’s producer, Joe Murray, at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.
Where Wormholes and Murray’s “My Dog Zero” were both competing. Moreover, Joe offered to collaborate after seeing Stephen’s project. As a result, Stephen was named manager.
“SpongeBob SquarePants”
One of the most significant works of Stephen’s was the cartoon ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’.
While working at the Orange Country Marine Institute in 1986, he had the idea for the show. The “SpongeBob SquarePants” cartoon aired on Nickelodeon on May 1, 1999, and the final premiere was on July 17, 1999.
The cartoon show defeated ‘Pokemon’ to become the highest-rated Saturday morning children’s series in its first month on the air. The show had the highest ratings for children’s television series by the end of 2001.
In 2004, he released a full-length animated movie under the same name “SpongeBob SquarePants”. The movie raised $ 120 million. again, in 2014, he made the second full-length film ‘SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water’, which came out.
The movie collected $ 323,4 million, becoming the second-highest-grossing film after ‘The Simpson Movie’ (2007).
Filmography
- 1992: The Green Beret
- 1992: Wormholes
- 1993-1996: Rocko’s Modern Life
- 1999-2018: SpongeBob SquarePants
- 2004: The SpongeBob SquarePants Movies (a full-length movie)
- 2009: Square Roots: The Story of SpongeBob SquarePants
- 2015: The SpongeBob Movies- Sponge Out of Water
Achievements
Stephen Hillenburg has won serval awards in his professional career. In 2007, he won the ‘British Academy Children’s International Award’.
Moreover, in 2010, he won the ‘Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Award’ for the Outstanding Special Class Animated Program. In 2018, he won the ‘Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Children’s Animated Series.
Body Measurements
Stephen Hillenburg was 5 feet 8 inches tall. He has blue eyes and brown color hair. Besides that, there is no more information regarding his weight and other body measurements.
Caption: Stephen Hillenburg body measurement (Source: Us Weekly)
Stephen Hillenburg – Social media
Stephen Hillenburg – Net Worth 2024
Being an animator, Marine Biologist, producer, and director, he has earned a huge sum in his professional career. His net worth was estimated at around $120 million US dollars at his death.
Relationship Status
Caption: Stephen Hillenburg with his wife Karen Hillenburg (Source: Facebook)
Stephen married Karen Umland. His wife Karen is a Southern Californian chef who teaches at the New School of Cooking in Culver City. In 1998, Clay Hillenburg, the couple’s first and only child, was born.
Stephen was not a part of any kind of controversy or rumor till his death.