Stephen Hillenburg: emotional reactions to his death

The creator of Bob Sponge, Stephen Hillenburg, died Tuesday at the age of 57. This information has been confirmed by Nickelodeon, the television channel for children and teenagers, which has been broadcasting the popular cartoon series since 1999.

In a statement, the company said the cause of death was ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a degenerative disease that has no cure. Hillenburg had been diagnosed with her in March of last year.

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In addition to creating the series, Hillenburg directed the film "The SpongeBob SquarePants" in 2004.

The channel said it would keep "a minute of silence to pay tribute to his life and work."

Stephen Hillenburg was born on August 21, 1961 in Lawton, Oklahoma, USA. He was a facilitator, producer and biologist.

In 1998, he showed his work to Nickelodeon and although the name of the main character was SpongeBoy ("Sponge Boy") at the beginning, he had to change it to SpongeBob ("SpongeBob") because the first one had already been recorded.

Thanks

Several celebrities paid tribute to the creator of SpongeBob.

The star of Baywatch and Knight RiderDavid Hbadelhoff, who played the role of lifeguard in the 2004 film, said that it was a "shocking loss".

"Wow, what a unique and fantastic character Steve has created!" tweeted

Wow, what a unique and fantastic character Steve has created! It was a pleasure and an honor for me to be in SpongeBob The Movie and share great laughs with this gentleman, Shocking Loss! To this day, I am stopped and flattered by the people and children who saw me in the movie.#SpongeBob pic.twitter.com/gNF1CkJk69

– David Hbadelhoff (@DavidHbadelhoff) November 27, 2018

The Tony Hawk professional skater He also paid tribute on Twitter and thanked Hillenburg for "the shared laughter" he had had with his children all these years.

Lori Alan, the actress who played the character of Pearl Krabs, called Hillenburg "a extremely talented, humble, funny man and with a big heart, "he said on Instagram.