The following is a list of deceased people who had an affiliation with the making of SpongeBob SquarePants. The article does not include voice talent in non-English dubs.
Posthumous contributors (died pre-2000)[]
- Max Schreck - The German actor died on February 20, 1936, sixty-three years before the series premiered. He played Count Orlok in the 1922 film Nosferatu, and stills derived from archival footage of him in this role appear in the episodes "Graveyard Shift" and "The Night Patty."
- Euday L. Bowman - Died on May 26, 1949, fifty years before the series premiered. He was the composer for Twelfth Street Rag.
- Harry Bluestone - The British-American composer died on December 22, 1992, about six and a half years before the series premiered. He composed several music tracks with Emil Cadkin, many of which were used in the series up to Season 10, when they were removed from APM.
- Frank Chacksfield - Died on June 9, 1995, almost four years before the series premiered. He composed "Cinnamon Stick," "Dapper Don," and "Gay Dog."
- Gerhard Trede - Died on September 30, 1996, over two and a half years before the series premiered. He composed various production music tracks used in the show such as "Vergnügungspark," "Dombummel," and "Witty Fellow."
- Tiny Tim - The singer died on November 30, 1996, two and a half years before the series premiered. In 1968, he sang a cover of the song "Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight," used posthumously in the series premiere episode "Help Wanted." His name is also mentioned by SpongeBob in "MuscleBob BuffPants." Tiny Tim passed away around the same time the crew were writing the pilot, so he never knew they used his cover. After his death, his estate brought legal action against Nickelodeon regarding the recording's unauthorized use, preventing "Help Wanted" from being officially issued on home video (including on the season 1 box set) until 2005, when it was released on the season 3 box set. According to Derek Drymon, this is because Nickelodeon did not want to pay Tiny Tim's estate for the rights.
2000-2009 (2000s)[]
- "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott - Died on December 8, 2004. He was the guitarist for Pantera, who provided the track Prehibernation, used multiple times in the episode "Prehibernation Week."
- Pat Morita - Died on November 24, 2005. He was the voice of Master Udon in "Karate Island," which premiered about six months after his death and is dedicated to his memory.
- Geoff Bastow - Died on March 16, 2007. He was the composer for "Daytime Drama" which was used in the title card for "Dumped" and then since become a meme.
- Charles Nelson Reilly - Died on May 25, 2007. He was the original voice of the Dirty Bubble in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II" and Lights, Camera, Pants!
- Will Schaefer - Died on June 30, 2007. He composed the tracks "Fight! Fight! Fight!" and Fight for Ol' Schaefer U."
- Ronnie Hazlehurst - Died on October 1, 2007. He composed the track "A Hat, a Cane" which was only used in "Culture Shock."
- Lux Interior - Died on February 4, 2009. He was the voice of the lead singer of The Bird Brains and performed the song "Underwater Sun" in "Party Pooper Pants."
2010-2019 (2010s)[]
- David Joseph Steinberg (not to be confused with David J. Steinberg) - Died on March 16, 2010. He physically played the live-action SpongeBob hallucination seen by Patchy in "Atlantis SquarePantis" (although his voice was dubbed by Tom Kenny).
- Davy Jones - Died on February 29, 2012. Coincidentally sharing a name with the pirate of lore, his locker has been mentioned numerous times in the series, most notably by Flying Dutchman in "Born Again Krabs." Jones portrayed himself in "SpongeBob SquarePants vs. The Big One."
- Ernest Borgnine - Died on July 8, 2012. He was the original voice of Mermaid Man. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water is dedicated to his memory.
- Robin Sachs - Died on February 1, 2013. He was the voice of Sergeant Roderick in "Mrs. Puff, You're Fired."
- Hiram Titus - Died on September 16, 2013. He was Nicolas Carr's colleague at Saban Entertainment in the 1980s and one of the show's original music composers in seasons 7 and 8. His tracks are still frequently used.
- Hal Douglas - Died on March 7, 2014. He did the voiceover in the first and third trailers for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.
- Rik Mayall - Died on June 9, 2014. He was the voice of Lord Reginald in "Chimps Ahoy."
- Robin Williams - Died on August 11, 2014. He played himself in "Truth or Square" during one of the Patchy segments.
- Don Newhouse - Died on May 12, 2015. He was an iconic employee at Nickelodeon Animation Studio who made brief appearances as a sailor in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy," as himself in the beginning of "The Sponge Who Could Fly," and as Don in "Sun Bleached" (although his voice was dubbed by Tom Kenny) and "Welcome to Binary Bottom."
- Lemmy Kilmister - Died on December 28, 2015. Frontman of the band Motörhead, who performed the song "You Better Swim" for the soundtrack of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.
- David Bowie - Died on January 10, 2016. He was the voice of Lord Royal Highness in "Atlantis SquarePantis."
- Joe Alaskey - Died on February 3, 2016. He was the voice of Mermaid Man in Lights, Camera, Pants! and Creature from the Krusty Krab.
- Sam Spence - Died on February 6, 2016. He was one of the show's music composers, with one of his most notable tracks being "The Lineman" - the theme of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy.
- Barry Anthony Trop - Died on October 27, 2016. He was Nicolas Carr's colleague at Saban Entertainment in the 1980s and one of the show's original music composers in seasons 4-8, most notably known for Squidward's clarinet sounds. His tracks are still used now, including the ones he composed himself.
- Adam West - Died on June 9, 2017. He was the voice of younger Mermaid Man in "Back to the Past."
- Bruce Brown - Died on December 10, 2017. He was the voice of the narrator in "SpongeBob SquarePants vs. The Big One."
- R. Lee Ermey - Died on April 15, 2018. He was the voice of the warden of Inferno Island in "The Inmates of Summer."
- Vinnie Paul - Died on June 22, 2018. He was the drummer for Pantera, who provided the track Prehibernation, used multiple times in the episode "Prehibernation Week."
- Lolee Aries - Died on July 10, 2018. She was an executive in charge of production between 2000 to 2004.
- John Sterchi - Died on October 8, 2018. He was the narrator in several books published by Publications International.
- Stephen Hillenburg - Died on November 26, 2018. He was the creator of SpongeBob SquarePants and was the original voice of Potty the Parrot. "SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout" and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run are dedicated to his memory.
- Chris Reccardi - Died on May 2, 2019. He was a writer and storyboard director.
- Tim Conway - Died on May 14, 2019. He was the voice of Barnacle Boy.
Since 2020 (2020s)[]
- Bob Kulick - Died on May 28, 2020. He was a writer for the song "Sweet Victory" that was used in the episode "Band Geeks."
- David Lander - Died on December 4, 2020. He was the voice of Donnie in "Sharks vs. Pods."
- Emil Cadkin - Died on December 16, 2020. He composed several music tracks with Harry Bluestone, many of which were used in the series up to Season 10, when they were removed from APM.
- Tuck Tucker - Died on December 22, 2020. He was a writer, storyboard artist, storyboard director, and supervising storyboard director.
- Biz Markie - Died on July 16, 2021. He voiced the titular character of the episode "Kenny the Cat."
- Ed Asner - Died on August 29, 2021. He was the voice of the angry old timer in "Whirly Brains."
- Betty White - Died on December 31, 2021. She was the voice of Beatrice in "Mall Girl Pearl."
- Maxie Santillan Jr. - Died on March 22, 2022. He portrayed Gummy The Pirate in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.
- Gilbert Gottfried - Died on April 12, 2022. He was a live-action guest star in "SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout" as well as the voices of Sal in "The Hankering" and Shecky in "Wise Kraken."
- Ray Liotta - Died on May 26, 2022. He was the voice of the leader of The Bubble Poppin' Boys in "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?"
- Jerry Blavat - Died on January 20, 2023. He was the voice of Al Bacore for The Best Day Ever album.
- Bob Barker - Died on August 26, 2023. He was the voice of Bob Barnacle in "Sanctuary!"
- Shawna Trpcic - Died on October 4, 2023. She was the costume designer for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run.
- Garrett Ho - Died on November 5, 2023. He was a storyboard artist on four episodes of the series.
- Laurie Johnson - Died on January 16, 2024. He composed several music tracks such as "Blood In The Gutter," "Lonely Stranger," and "Gala Premiere."