- Dennis Haskins, who played the beloved Principal Richard Belding on "Saved by the Bell," has died at age 75; his agent Jay Schachter confirmed the death early Tuesday.
- No cause of death has been disclosed, but tributes say Haskins secretly battled Parkinson's disease for roughly eight years, keeping the diagnosis from even close friends.
- He anchored Bayside High across three shows — "Good Morning, Miss Bliss" (1988), "Saved by the Bell" (1989–93), and "The New Class" (1993–2000).
- Co-stars Tiffani Thiessen and Lark Voorhies led emotional tributes, calling him a steady, kind-hearted presence who truly loved his fans.
Every '90s kid knew that voice. The hallway door would swing open and there it was: "Hey, hey, hey, what is going on here?" Principal Belding — the grown-up always two steps behind Zack Morris's latest scheme, and lovable for exactly that reason. On Sunday, September 27, the man behind him, Dennis Haskins, died at 75. The news broke on Monday.
The news broke through WTVC in Chattanooga, where a longtime friend and caretaker confirmed his death. His agent of more than 20 years, Jay Schachter, confirmed it to USA Today early Tuesday: "It's a tragic loss. Everyone loved Mr. Belding, and those of us who got to know Dennis loved him even more."
The battle he fought in secret
Here's the part that hurts the most: while fans were quoting his catchphrase, Haskins was quietly fighting Parkinson's disease — for roughly eight years, according to an Instagram tribute from Dimples Karaoke, the Burbank bar he called his second home.
"He had been silent about his fight with Parkinson's, among other health concerns, because he did not want the attention," the bar's post read. "He did not want to have to tell people. He would say, 'What do I even say?'" His ex-wife, Sarah Quinones, told TMZ that he kept the illness private even from loved ones, spending his final days in an assisted living facility and not returning friends' calls asking after him. No official cause of death has been announced.
From Chattanooga to Bayside High
He wasn't an overnight success. The Chattanooga native worked as a music manager, agent, and concert promoter before acting — his clients reportedly included Tom Jones and Gregg Allman.
He first played Principal Richard Belding on Disney Channel's "Good Morning, Miss Bliss" in 1988. When NBC retooled it as "Saved by the Bell" the next year, Haskins was one of the few carried over — alongside Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tiffani Thiessen, Mario Lopez, Elizabeth Berkley, Lark Voorhies, and Dustin Diamond. He stayed through all four seasons (1989–93) and then seven more of "The New Class" (1993–2000): more than a decade as TV's most exasperated principal.
More than just Mr. Belding
Surviving past one iconic role is the real trick, and Haskins pulled it off: "The Dukes of Hazzard," "The West Wing," "How I Met Your Mother," "Mad Men," "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," "New Girl," a snake oil salesman in "A Million Ways to Die in the West." He even cut a karaoke album in 2009 and turned up in Khalid's "Young Dumb & Broke" video.
And then there's the detail that says everything about him: at 65, in 2015, he graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a Bachelor of Arts in theater. Never stopped being a student of the thing he loved.
Goodbye to America's favorite principal
The tributes have been rolling in since Monday night. Tiffani Thiessen, who played Kelly Kapowski, wrote on Instagram that Haskins was "a steady presence in my teenage years, the kind of figure who kept us in line while making sure we knew he was in our corner." Lark Voorhies called knowing him for almost 40 years "one of the truest blessings of my life."
He's survived by his son, Dustin. He was the second member of the core "Saved by the Bell" family to go — Dustin Diamond died in 2021 — and for a generation that grew up at Bayside High, this one stings. Mr. Belding was the adult who never really had it together, and we loved him for it. Rest easy, Principal B.