"SpongeBob SquarePants" creator Stephen Hillenburg, who brought the zany cartoon marine underworld of Bikini Bottom to television, the movies and the stage, has died at the age of 57, the Nickelodeon television network said on Tuesday. Hillenburg had said last year that he was suffering from the neurodegenerative disease ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He died on Monday.
