Dennis Haskins, the Tennessee-born actor who played Principal Richard Belding on Saved by the Bell for more than a decade, has died at 75. His longtime agent, Jay Schachter, confirmed the death and called it a tragic loss. The cause of death has not been released.
Few actors get to keep one character alive across three different television series. Haskins did. For millions of viewers who grew up between the late 1980s and 2000, he was the man in charge of Bayside High’s front office.
From Chattanooga to the Music Business
Haskins was born on November 18, 1950, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He went on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. There he wrote for the student newspaper and acted in campus productions. His university biography also credits him with helping to found a community theater group called The Harlequins.
Acting wasn’t his first career. Before Hollywood, Haskins worked in music as a manager, agent and concert promoter. According to his IMDb biography, his clients included Gregg Allman and Tom Jones.
A promoter’s job is to look after people and keep the show on the road. Judging by his agent’s tribute, Haskins never lost that instinct.
Dennis Haskins and the Principal Who Outlasted Every Class
Haskins first played Belding in 1989 on Good Morning, Miss Bliss, a Disney Channel series. When the show was reworked for NBC as Saved by the Bell, the principal was one of the pieces that made the move.
He stayed for the sitcom’s full four-season run, from 1989 to 1993. When the original students left Bayside, Haskins didn’t. He carried the role straight into Saved by the Bell: The New Class, which ran for seven more seasons until 2000.
Add it up and that’s 11 straight years behind the same desk. Casts changed around him. Storylines reset. For anyone who tuned in as a kid in 1989 and kept watching into their teens, Belding was the one fixed point.
He played the well-meaning grown-up who was always a step behind the teenagers he was meant to supervise. The line fans are most likely to remember is his exasperated “Hey, hey, hey, what is going on here?”
Back at Bayside in 2015
The show never quite let him go, and he never seemed to mind. In 2015, Haskins reunited with former co-stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Elizabeth Berkley, Mario Lopez and Tiffani Thiessen. They performed a sketch on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
For a generation by then in their 30s and 40s, it was a rare chance to see the whole gang back together, principal included.
A Career Beyond the Principal’s Office
Belding may have defined him in the public mind, but Haskins kept working in film and television for years. His credits include It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Mad Men, How I Met Your Mother, New Girl, Hot in Cleveland and Men of a Certain Age. He also appeared in the comedy film A Million Ways to Die in the West.
It’s an eclectic list, spanning edgy cable comedy and prestige drama. It shows an actor who was happy to keep turning up long after the role that made him famous had ended.
A Tribute From His Agent of 20 Years
Schachter represented Haskins for more than two decades and counted him as a close friend. He said people adored Mr. Belding, and that those who knew the man behind the character loved him even more.
Above all, Schachter said, Haskins adored his fans. “He always had time for them, no matter what,” the agent said.
Schachter added that he was heartbroken and would miss his friend terribly. No further details about Haskins’ death, including the cause, have been made public.
