Dennis Haskins, 'Saved by the Bell' Principal Belding Actor, Dies at 75

Obituary

“Everyone loved Mr. Belding, and those of us who got to know Dennis loved him even more,” as shared by his agent

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September 29, 2026

At 75, Dennis Haskins passed away — the American actor and musician recognized above all for portraying the beloved Principal Belding on Saved by the Bell. Jay Schachter, his agent, confirmed the news, though no further details were shared.

Schachter, in a statement to Rolling Stone, said, “It’s a tragic loss. 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.”

Principal Belding was a role Haskins first played on the Disney Channel show Good Morning, Miss Bliss, a series that, following a single season, was reworked into Saved by the Bell. Saved by the Bell aired on NBC from 1989-1993. Haskins later returned to the character in Saved by the Bell: The New Class, which ran from 1993-2000. Principal Belding's catchphrase was well known: “Hey, hey, hey, what is going on here?”

Haskins had initially seen Mr. Belding as nothing more than a job on a children’s show unlikely to last. He told Parade in 2013, “We were just happy to be working. We weren’t thinking in terms of how long we were going to go. One day [producer] Peter Engel came on the stage and said, ’Ladies and gentlemen, Disney has chosen not to go on with the project. There’s a slight chance ABC will do something, but I just wanted to thank everybody.’”

NBC's pickup of Good Morning, Miss Bliss and its transformation into Saved by the Bell came as a surprise to him. While Hayley Mills and the other adult cast members from the original version departed, he stayed on. That marked the beginning of a long, successful run turning him into an unlikely icon for those who grew up during the Nineties. He remained in the role even after the original students graduated and were replaced by new ones in the spinoff Saved by the Bell: The New Class.

He told Parade, “I had the best job of all. The principal stayed while the kids came and went. So I had a steady job for 11 years. For me, that’s long-term. But I know that what everybody loves is the original Saved by the Bell.”

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Haskins was born on Nov. 18, 1950 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. His onscreen debut came in 1979 in an episode of The Dukes of Hazzard. He continued to appear in several episodes of the CBS series, taking on a different role each time. Bit parts on Archie Bunker’s Place and Magnum PI: Autumn Warrior followed before he landed the role of Principal Belding.

Over the course of his career, Haskins showed up in dozens of TV shows and a handful of films, among them Seth MacFarlane’s A Million Ways to Die in the West. His credits featured episodes of Mad Men, Hot in Cleveland, New Girl, I’m Dying Up Here, How I Met Your Mother, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Back in 2015, he came together again with Saved by the Bell’s Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Elizabeth Berkley, Mario Lopez, and Tiffani Thiessen for a sketch on The Tonight Show.

Music was something Haskins performed regularly, and he took part in two USO tours for troops—one in Kosovo, Macedonia, and Bosnia in 2000, and another in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Oman, and Kyrgyzstan in 2002. His debut album, Karaoke With Your Favorite Principal Dennis, came out in 2009. Later on, he made a cameo appearance in Khalid’s music video for “Young Dumb & Broke,” portraying a principal.

On the Instagram page for Dimples Karaoke, Kimberly Snow—Haskins’ friend and longtime caretaker—posted a tribute to the actor, pointing out that he had been a fixture at the now-closed venue.

“A lot of people thought he owned it, but he didn’t,” she wrote. “He just loved the place and its people. He enjoyed singing for people, meeting them, and taking selfies with his fans. Dimples closed down about 11 years ago, and people still associate him with his beloved ‘second home.’ He was known to most as Mr. Belding from Saved by the Bell, but to us, he was much more than that.”

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She shared that eight years ago, Haskins became ill with Parkinson’s, “among other health concerns.” “He did not want to have to tell people,” Snow wrote. “He would say, ‘What do I even say?’ So I respected his wishes and stayed quiet, and I helped him through his journey into the next chapter of his life. Late last night, that journey ended for him. He is now at peace and is probably entertaining the people in the sky.”

For most fans, though, Richard Belding will remain Haskins’ most indelible role. Inevitable typecasting followed, but Haskins never complained. “For the rest of my life, people are going to think of me as Mr. Belding,” he told Daily Actor in 2009. “But then they also, and I’m not comparing myself to Tom Hanks, and they also think of Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump. And they also think of Ed O’Neill as Al Bundy. But that’s because you did a good job in a role.”