Dennis Haskins, the actor who spent more than a decade as Principal Richard Belding, the flustered but soft-hearted administrator of Bayside High on “Saved by the Bell,” has died. He was 75. His death was confirmed Monday, Sept. 28, 2026.

“Everyone loved Mr. Belding, and those of us who got to know Dennis loved him even more,” his agent, Jay Schachter, said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. Schachter called the death a tragic loss.

A cause of death has not been made public. Details of Haskins’ death have not been released.

From Chattanooga to Bayside High

Born in Chattanooga, Tenn., Haskins first stepped into the role that would define him on “Good Morning, Miss Bliss,” a series that was reworked into the teen sitcom “Saved by the Bell” after a single season. The character came with him. So did the whistle-and-clipboard authority that a generation of viewers would come to associate with school hallways.

“Saved by the Bell” debuted in 1989 and ran for four seasons until 1993, trailing star athlete Zack Morris — played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar — and his circle of friends through the fictional Bayside High School in California. The cast also included Dustin Diamond, Tiffani Amber Thiessen, Mario Lopez, Elizabeth Berkley and Lark Voorhies. Belding was the constant: the adult forever one step behind Zack’s schemes, and forever unable to stay angry about them.

A Decade Behind the Principal’s Desk

Haskins did not leave Bayside when the original series ended. He reprised the role in “Saved by the Bell: The New Class,” which aired from 1993 to 2000, carrying the character through a second wave of students and, with it, a second wave of fans who grew up on his reaction shots.

He returned to the part once more in 2015, joining Thiessen, Lopez, Gosselaar and Berkley for a sketch on “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” — a reunion that drew a roar from viewers who had not seen the group together in years.

The role was the most famous of a decades-long working life, but it was hardly the only one. Haskins turned up on television across eras and genres, with credits that included “Mad Men,” “New Girl” and “The Dukes of Hazzard.” He built the kind of résumé that makes an actor’s face familiar long before his name registers.

Remembered as a Fan Favorite

What his representative emphasized was not the credits. It was the crowds. “He was a great person, and he loved, I mean absolutely LOVED his fans,” Schachter said, adding that Haskins always made time for them, no matter the circumstances.

Schachter told PEOPLE that Haskins had been his client and dear friend for more than 20 years, that he would miss him terribly and that he was heartbroken.

After his death was reported, Dimples Karaoke Bar in Burbank, Calif., paid tribute to Haskins, who had become a regular at the establishment — a reminder that the actor who played the ultimate school-hallway fixture had become a fixture of his own, off camera and away from the cameras that made him famous.