Dennis Haskins, the actor best known for his role as Principal Richard Belding on teen sitcom Saved by the Bell, has died. He was 75.
“It’s a tragic loss,” his agent Jay Schachter said in a statement on Tuesday. “Everyone loved Mr. Belding, and those of us who got to know Dennis loved him even more. He was a great person, and he loved, I mean absolutely LOVED his fans. He always had time for them, no matter what. He was my client and dear friend for over 20 years, and I will miss him terribly. I’m heartbroken.”
According to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/arts/television/dennis-haskins-dead.html” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>New York Times, he died on Sunday in Burbank, Calif. His cause of death has not been disclosed. His friend and caretaker, Kimberly Snow, said that Haskins was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease eight years ago and had been in an assisted living facility.
Haskins’s Saved by the Bell costar Mario Lopez said he was “heartbroken” by the death of his “old friend.” He wrote on Instagram, “He played the principal, but Dennis was the biggest kid on the SBTB set. If you knew him, you loved him—and if there was karaoke, you knew Dennis was getting on that mic! I’m grateful for the laughs, the memories, and the friendship we shared all these years.”
Tiffani Thiessen, who played Kelly on Saved by the Bell, also posted a tribute to Instagram.
Another costar, Lark Voorhies, said Haskins would “always hold a special place in my heart.” She added that she would “miss his warmth and laughter more than words can say.”
She wrote on Instagram, “Knowing Dennis Haskins for almost 40 years has been one of the truest blessings of my life, which makes losing him hurt so deeply. We shared so much history together from our earliest days, and through it all, he remained a fabulous person, a loyal friend, and someone with such a kind, gentle heart.”
Haskins was born in Chattanooga, Tenn., in 1950, to Dennis Button Haskins III and Veneta Marilyn Yarbrough. According to a biography posted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, he was active in the school’s drama club and helped found a community theater group.
Early in his career, he appeared on The Dukes of Hazzard, Magnum, P.I. and The Twilight Zone.
He first played Principal Belding on the Disney Channel show Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which aired from 1988 to 1989. The series was reworked after one season and became NBC’s Saved by the Bell, which had a four-season run from 1989 to 1993.
The show centered on the antics of a group of students at the fictitious Bayside High in California, and Haskins’scharacter was known for his catchphrase, “Hey, hey, hey, what is going on here?”
Haskins reprised the role on the spinoff series Saved by the Bell: The New Class, and in two Saved by the Bell TV movies, Hawaiian Style and Wedding in Las Vegas.
He made his final appearance as Principal Belding in 2015 for a sketch on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, alongside his costars Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Zach), Elizabeth Berkley (Jessie), Lopez (A.C.) and Thiessen (Kelly).
He also had roles in The West Wing, Mad Men, How I Met Your Mother, New Girl and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and played a principal in music videos by Khalid and Dirty Heads.
Saved by the Bell made stars of its young cast. Gosselaar went on to star in NYPD Blue and Franklin & Bash, and later appeared in shows including Mixed-ish and Found. Lopez appeared in Pacific Blue and Dancing With the Stars before becoming a longtime television host, including on Extra and Access Hollywood.
Berkley starred in the 1995 film Showgirls, which became a cult classic, and went on to appear in films including The First Wives Club and Any Given Sunday, as well as TV shows including CSI: Miami.
Thiessen joined the cast of Beverly Hills, 90210 after Saved by the Bell and later starred in White Collar and Alexa & Katie. She also hosted the Cooking Channel series Dinner at Tiffani’s.
Several members of the original cast reunited for Peacock’s 2020 reboot of Saved by the Bell, with Gosselaar, Lopez, Berkley and Thiessen reprising their roles. Haskins did not appear in the revival.
Dustin Diamond, who played Samuel “Screech” Powers, appeared on reality TV shows including Celebrity Fit Club and the U.K.’s Celebrity Big Brother. He was jailed in 2015 for his involvement in a bar fight, and died in 2021 from lung cancer at 44.
