American actor Dennis Haskins, known for playing principal Richard Belding in the series 'Saved by the Bell', has died at the age of 75, his agent confirmed to Variety magazine on Monday, as reported by EFE.
"It's a tragic loss. Everyone loved Mr. Belding, and those of us who were lucky enough to know Dennis loved him even more. He was a great person and he loved—I mean, he LOVED—his fans. He always had time for them, no matter what," said Jay Schachter, who worked with him for two decades.
Principal Belding was the adult who kept order at Bayside High School.
His was the phrase "Hey, hey, hey, what's going on here?" when he burst into the chaos starring his students, with Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), AC Slater (Mario Lopez), Kelly Kapowski (Tiffani Thiessen), Screech Powers (Dustin Diamond) and Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley) at the forefront.
Until the end
As Variety recalls, the series aired between 1989 and 1992 and Haskins acted in it from beginning to end, in almost 90 episodes.
She also appeared in 'Saved by the Bell: The New Generation'; the television film 'Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style'; and the precursor series to the original, 'Good Morning, Miss Bliss'.
Haskins also released a music album, 'Karaoke with Your Favorite Principal Dennis'. On that album, he performs songs ranging from "Piano Man" to "Mustang Sally," the latter being a duet with Hulk Hogan's daughter, Brooke Hogan.
The CD was recorded in the summer of 2009, produced by Cody McCarver. In 2010, Haskins appeared in the video for "See You in Shell" by the experimental metalcore band Iwrestledabearonce, which parodied 'Saved by the Bell' and the films of John Hughes.
More series and movies
The last time he played Belding was in 2015, when the cast reunited for a sketch on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,' ABC reports, noting that the cause of his death has not been disclosed.
Haskins' career includes other series and films such as 'Abstruse', 'A Million Ways to Die in the West', 'A Bennett Song Holiday', 'Mad Men' and 'How I Met Your Mother'.
"Rest in peace, Mr. Belding"; "The best director ever"; "Screech welcomed him and will guide him through the lights above the clouds"; and "He is already missed" are some of the comments being read on social media about his passing.
