His agent confirmed the death Monday, while a bar the actor frequented revealed he had quietly battled Parkinson's disease for roughly eight years.
Dennis Haskins is dead at 75. His longtime agent, Jay Schachter, confirmed the death on Monday, September 28, though no cause has been released.
Haskins spent over three decades as Richard Belding, the principal who policed Bayside High with a catchphrase that outlived the show itself: "Hey, hey, hey, what is going on here?" He first played the character in 1989 on the Disney Channel's Good Morning, Miss Bliss, carried him into NBC's Saved by the Bell for its full run and stayed on through Saved by the Bell: The New Class until 2000. He also reprised the role in the TV movie Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style.
"It's a tragic loss," Schachter said. "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. I'm heartbroken."
The news first surfaced not through a studio statement but through a bar. Dimples Karaoke, a spot Haskins treated as a second home, posted a tribute saying he had died the previous night. Variety reported the bar is in Burbank, California. Just Jared and OK! Magazine placed it in Tennessee. Neither claim has been independently verified elsewhere in the reporting, and CutMirchi is noting the discrepancy rather than picking a side.
The tribute also disclosed something Haskins had kept private. "About eight years ago, he became ill," the post read. "He had been silent about his fight with Parkinson's, among other health concerns, because he did not want the attention. He would say, 'What do I even say?' So I respected his wishes and stayed quiet." Just Jared and OK! Reported the actor had Parkinson's disease, though that detail has not come from Haskins' agent or family directly, so it stays attributed rather than confirmed.
The bar's post closed on a gentler note: "Late last night, that journey ended for him. He is now at peace and is probably entertaining the people in the sky." It added that the room where Haskins spent his final stretch had, by chance, been furnished through a gift from the Mario Lopez Golf Classic, a detail the writer said made the moment easier to sit with.
Haskins worked steadily beyond Bayside High, turning up in films like A Million Ways to Die in the West and Trailer Park Shark, and on shows including Jennifer Falls. But it was Belding, the adult forever outmatched by Zack Morris and company, that stuck. In a 2014 interview, Haskins said as much himself: "I was very lucky that I was the principal because every school needs one, so I got to be there as kind of the wheel and everything happened around me."
No funeral or memorial details have been announced. His former castmates, including Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley and Mario Lopez, have not yet issued public statements.
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