Dennis Haskins, ‘Saved by the Bell’s’ Mr. Belding, Dies at 75

Dennis Haskins, the actor who became forever linked to Bayside High as Principal Richard Belding on Saved by the Bell, has died at the age of 75.

Haskins’ longtime agent, Jay Schachter, confirmed his death Tuesday. A cause of death has not been officially released. Schachter remembered Haskins as someone who genuinely loved the people who continued to recognize and embrace him decades after the show left the air.

For those who grew up during the show’s heyday, however, the news feels like more than the passing of another familiar television actor.

Mr. Belding was the principal for an entire generation of kids.

Maybe not technically, of course. But for children born in the 1970s and 1980s who came of age with Saturday-morning television in the late ’80s and ’90s, Bayside High often felt almost as familiar as their own school.

And Mr. Belding was always there.

The principal we all knew

Haskins began playing Richard Belding before Saved by the Bell even existed in the form most viewers remember. He portrayed the character on Good Morning, Miss Bliss, the earlier series that eventually evolved into Saved by the Bell. He then remained a fixture when the show became the Bayside High comedy that premiered in 1989.

That put Belding in the middle of one of television’s most recognizable groups of teenagers: Zack Morris, Kelly Kapowski, A.C. Slater, Jessie Spano, Lisa Turtle and Samuel “Screech” Powers.

Zack had his schemes.

Screech had his disasters.

Slater and Jessie had their arguments.

And somewhere down the hallway, there was inevitably Mr. Belding trying to figure out what they were up to.

Haskins appeared in nearly 90 episodes of the original series and continued portraying Belding in Saved by the Bell: The New Class, along with Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style.

It ultimately made him one of the most enduring faces of the franchise.

Raised by the ’90s

There is a particular nostalgia surrounding Saved by the Bell that is difficult to separate from the era in which it aired.

For many people born in the ’70s and ’80s, television was different then.

There was no streaming queue waiting whenever you wanted it. No smartphone in your hand. No social media clips appearing seconds after a show aired.

There were Saturday mornings.

There were cereal bowls in front of the television.

There were VHS tapes, brightly colored clothes, mall culture, landline phones and a television schedule you actually had to remember.

And there was Bayside.

Saved by the Bell became part of that experience, mixing exaggerated comedy with stories about friendship, dating, school pressure and growing up. Beneath the bright colors and unmistakably ’90s style, the characters became familiar companions to millions of young viewers.

Mr. Belding represented the adult on the other side of all of it.

He could be corny. He could be frustrated. Zack could run circles around him.

But Belding was rarely cruel. At the end of the day, he cared about the students walking his halls.

That warmth became a major part of what made the character last.

More than Bayside High

Although Haskins will overwhelmingly be remembered for Belding, his acting career extended well beyond Saved by the Bell.

Before becoming a television regular, the Chattanooga, Tennessee native worked in the entertainment business as a music manager and concert promoter. His acting career later included appearances in shows including Magnum, P.I. and The Twilight Zone.

Later generations saw him in appearances on programs including Mad Men, Hot in Cleveland and New Girl, as well as the film A Million Ways to Die in the West.

But he never seemed to run away from the character that made him famous.

Quite the opposite.

According to his longtime agent, Haskins remained deeply appreciative of the people who approached him because they remembered Mr. Belding.

Schachter described Haskins as someone who “absolutely LOVED his fans” and said he always made time for them.

That relationship with fans may be one reason Belding remained culturally recognizable long after Bayside's final bell.

Another piece of Bayside is gone

Haskins’ death also brings another emotional reminder of how much time has passed since the original series.

Dustin Diamond, who played Screech, died in 2021 at the age of 44.

Now the actor who spent all those years trying to keep Screech, Zack and the rest of the gang under control is gone too.

For younger viewers, Dennis Haskins was an actor from an old television show.

For a lot of us who actually grew up with him, though, that description doesn't quite capture it.

He was Mr. Belding.

He was the guy standing outside the principal’s office.

The adult who somehow knew Zack Morris was up to something.

The principal of the fictional high school where an entire generation spent countless Saturday mornings.

Those of us born in the ’70s and ’80s may not have actually attended Bayside High.

But in a strange way, we grew up there.

And Mr. Belding was our principal.

Dennis Haskins was 75.