Dennis Haskins, the actor who played the ever-exasperated principal Richard Belding on Saved By The Bell, has died, according to reports.
His agent, Jay Schachter, confirmed the sad news to TMZ on Monday evening. The actor, who boasted a career of more than four decades, was 75 years old.
“It’s a tragic loss,” Schacter said.
“Everyone loved Mr. Belding and those of us who got to know Dennis, loved him even more,” he continued. “He was a great person, and he loved, I mean absolutely LOVED his fans. He always had time for them, no matter what.”
Schacter concluded: “He was my client and dear friend for over 20 years, and I will miss him terribly.”
Haskins’ cause of death was not provided, but he had been in an assisted living facility since he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease eight years ago, his friend and caretaker, Kimberly Snow, told the New York Times. She said he died on Sunday in Burbank, California.
Haskins is best known for playing Belding, who tried to keep Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s Zach Morris and the rest of the crazy kids of Bayside High in line, often times addressing their high jinks with his catchphrase, “Hey, hey, hey, what is going on here?”
Saved By The Bell debuted in 1989 and also starred Dustin Diamond, Tiffani Amber Thiessen, Mario Lopez, Elizabeth Berkley and Lark Voorhies. It ran for four season, wrapping in 1993, but it also inspired a pair of spinoffs: Saved By The Bell: The College Years and Saved By The Bell: The New Class. Haskins reprised his role as Belding in both.
Shortly after the original run concluded, Haskins opened up about what it had been like to play the beloved character.
“Somebody told me the other day, they said, ‘You are going to be Mr. Belding to a whole generation of kids,'” he said during a past appearance on Live At Noon, a local talk show in Chattanooga. “I was just happy to have a job.” – New York Daily News/TNS
