Saved by the Stone actor Dennis Haskins has died. He was 75.
“It’s a terrible loss,” his spokesman said Us on Monday, the 28th of September. “Everybody loved Mr. Belding and those of us who got to know Dennis, loved him even more.”
Haskins debuted as Bayside High School Principal Richard Belding on the short-lived teen comedy. Good morning, Miss Bliss in 1988 and was one of the few characters to carry over when the Saturday morning sitcom was revamped as Saved by the Stone the following year. (Saved by the Stone aired from 1989 to 1993 on NBC.)
“[Dennis] he was a good man, and he was loved, I mean I really love his fans,” his rep said Us. “He always had time for them, no matter what. He was a client and a good friend of mine for over 20 years, and I will miss him terribly. I am heartbroken.”
The cause of death has not yet been determined. (TMZ was the first to report the news.)
Haskins’ portrayal of Mr. Belding was so popular for the smart aleck heartthrob Zack Morris (Marc-Paul Gosselaar) that the character took more prominence on the spinoff Saved by the Bell: The New Classwhich ran from 1993 to 2000.
The actor also reprized his iconic role as Mr. Belding for a cameo appearance on the prime-time production Saving by the Bell: The College Years and the TV movie Saved by the bell: a wedding in Las Vegas.
A native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Haskins got his start as an actor by appearing in several appearances on the action comedy series The Dukes of Hazzardplaying a new character each time. (Haskins appeared in three The Dukes of Hazzard programs as a whole.)
He got minor roles Archie Bunker Placeit and Magnum P.I before being cast in his signature sitcom role as Mr. Belding after seven auditions in 1988. Haskins fully accepted Saved by the Stoneeven making cameos as mr. Belding in Robot chicken and Victorious in recent years.
Dennis Haskins in 2018.
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images“Go ahead Good morning, Miss BlissI was just happy to have a job. It was a long process of seven trials,” he said Parade in 2013. “I was in. I was out. And then, finally at the last minute, I got it. We were just happy to work. We didn’t think how far we were going to go.”
Haskins recalled being told during a run Good morning, Miss Bliss that the original home of the show, the Disney Channel, was not satisfied with the show.
“One day [producer] Peter Engel he came on stage and said, ‘Gentlemen, Disney has chosen not to proceed with the project. There is a slight chance that ABC will do something, but I just wanted to say thank you to everyone.’ And then I started hearing things,” he recalled. They told us to save the sets.’ I found out that I was going to Saved by the Stonebecause NBC had bought the rights to four characters, with the wardrobe guy telling me, ‘They told me to save your costumes,’ and giving me a big thumbs up. “
In that same interview in 2013, Haskins described playing the often annoying Mr. Belding as “the best job of them all”.
“The principal stayed while the children came and went,” he said. “So I had a steady job for eleven years. To me, that’s a long time. But I know that what everyone loves is the original Saved by the Stone.”
Haskins was married before Sarah Dianne Goins in the 1990s and had a son.
Saved by the Stone has seen its share of accidents over the years. Diamond Dustin – who played Screech on both originals Saved by the Stone and The New Class – died aged 44 in February 2021 after a battle with stage IV small cell lung carcinoma.