Dennis Haskins, Beloved Principal Belding of ‘Saved by the Bell’, Has Died

Every generation of TV fans has a school authority figure who was strict, exasperated and secretly on the kids’ side. For millions of viewers who grew up on Saturday-morning sitcoms, that person was Principal Richard Belding, the well-meaning administrator of Bayside High. Dennis Haskins played him with just the right mix of sternness and warmth.

The character became a fixture of 1990s television. His exasperated catchphrase, “Hey, hey, hey, what is going on here?”, is still remembered by fans decades later. Belding spent much of his time trying to keep up with the schemes of Zack Morris, and that dynamic gave the show some of its most enduring comedy.

Now the entertainment world is mourning the actor behind him. Dennis Haskins has died at the age of 75, his longtime agent Jay Schachter confirmed on Monday. Schachter described the loss as tragic, said that everyone loved Mr. Belding and those who knew Haskins loved him even more, and added that Haskins adored his fans and always made time for them. He also said Haskins had been his client and dear friend for more than 20 years.

A cause of death has not been officially disclosed. However, a friend and caretaker of Haskins shared through the Chattanooga station NewsChannel 9 that he had been living with Parkinson’s disease. According to the tribute, he had been ill for about 8 years and kept his health struggles private because he did not want the attention.

The news was first reported by ABC News Channel 9 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where Haskins was born in 1950. He attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and the school honored him with its Most Distinguished Alumni Award in 2000. A regional high school academic decathlon there was even named after him, The Dennis Haskins Open.

Haskins first played Belding on Disney Channel’s ‘Good Morning, Miss Bliss’. After one season, the show was retooled as ‘Saved by the Bell’ on NBC, and he was one of the few cast members to make the jump. He appeared in nearly 90 episodes of the original series, alongside Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Mario Lopez, Tiffani Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley, Lark Voorhies and Dustin Diamond.

The role followed him for years. He returned as Belding for ‘Saved by the Bell: The New Class’, which ran from 1993 to 2000, and also popped up in ‘Saved by the Bell: The College Years’. He also appeared in the TV movies ‘Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style’ and ‘Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas’. In all, TVLine counts 13 seasons in the role.

Haskins made his onscreen debut on ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’, and after Bayside he worked steadily for decades. His credits included ‘The West Wing’, ‘Mad Men’, ‘How I Met Your Mother’, ‘New Girl’, ‘Hot in Cleveland’ and ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’. He also appeared in Seth MacFarlane’s film ‘A Million Ways to Die in the West’, and in music videos for Dirty Heads’ ‘Vacation’ and Khalid’s ‘Young Dumb & Broke’.

Fans got one last classic moment in February 2015, when he reunited with Gosselaar, Lopez, Berkley and Thiessen for a ‘Saved by the Bell’ sketch on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’. It was a warm reminder of how much affection the cast and audience still had for the series.

Tributes have already begun to appear online. Dimples Karaoke, the Burbank bar where Haskins was a regular, shared a message on Instagram remembering him. The post said many people assumed he owned the place, though he simply loved its people, and that he enjoyed singing for guests and taking selfies with fans. It noted that although most people knew him as Mr. Belding, he was much more than that to the bar’s community.

That description fits the way his agent spoke about him. Even as the character became a pop-culture shorthand for stern-but-lovable authority, the actor who played him was known for his generosity toward the people who watched. Few TV principals have earned that kind of lasting affection.

‘Saved by the Bell’ remains one of the defining sitcoms of the 90s, and Haskins was a big part of why. His Belding gave viewers a school authority figure they could laugh at and, in the end, love. That legacy will outlast any single episode.

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