Life ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ creator Stephen Hillenburg dies at 57 from ALS November 27, 2018 Andrea Mandell, USA TODAY Comments Off on ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ creator Stephen Hillenburg dies at 57 from ALS "Sponge Bob" was Nickelodeon's biggest all-time hit. Creator Stephen Hillenburg died Monday at age 57 from ALS, a disease he revealed in 2017.