Dennis Haskins

Dennis Haskins (November 18, 1950 – September 27, 2026) was an American actor known for his role as principal Richard Belding in the teen sitcom Saved by the Bell, which ran from 1989 to 1993 on NBC. He then went on to star in Saved by the Bell: The New Class, which aired from 1993 to 2000. He also portrayed the role as a regular in Good Morning, Miss Bliss.

Dennis Haskins was born on November 18, 1950, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He attended Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He played basketball at UTC after failing to make the team at the University of Tennessee, and he was also a member of the cheerleading squad. Haskins belonged to the Kappa Sigma fraternity. Before beginning his acting career, Haskins appeared as a contestant on the TV game show Scrabble.

Before his role on Saved by the Bell, Haskins appeared in several episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard in different roles. In the pilot episode, he played a Boar's Nest patron whom Daisy thrashes after he attempts to grope her while she's working as a waitress.

Haskins, who auditioned seven times for the role of Mr. Belding, first appeared as the character in 1988's Good Morning, Miss Bliss on the Disney Channel. After a year, the show was retooled as Saved by the Bell on NBC, with Haskins being the only adult member of the regular cast. Known for the catchphrase "Hey, hey, hey, what is going on here?", he continued the role on the spinoff Saved by the Bell: The New Class until 2000. He had a brief cameo as himself in the 2006 film The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down.

As a guest on the March 4, 2010, episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Haskins said he was capable of bench pressing 150 pounds as a senior member of Notre Dame men's varsity basketball team.

On February 4, 2015, Haskins reunited with Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Elizabeth Berkley, Mario Lopez and Tiffani Thiessen on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where they appeared in a Saved by the Bell sketch with Fallon.