Dennis Haskins (born November 18, 1950) is 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.
Biography
He was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Haskins is an alumnus of Our Lady of Perpetual Help as well as Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga and of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He played basketball at UTC after failing to make the team at the University of Tennessee. He was also a member of the cheerleading squad. Haskins is a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. Before breaking into acting, Haskins was a contestant on the TV game shows Press Your Luck and Scrabble. In recent years, he has been lobbying to become a cast member on ABC's Dancing With The Stars.
Career
Haskins started his role as Mr. Belding 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 small appearance in the Victorious episode 'April Fools Bank' as Mr Belding. He had a brief cameo as himself in the 2006 film Boys & Girls Guide To Getting Down.
On August 31, 2009, Haskins released his first music album called "Karaoke With Your Favorite Principal Dennis." On the album, he sings everything 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 at Mikron Studios in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, with Mike Headrick. Cody McCarver produced the project, and Mike Yarworth financed it. More recently, in 2011, Haskins appeared in the video for "See You In Shell" by I Wrestled a Bear Once, which parodied Saved By the Bell and films by John Hughes. Haskins has appeared in multiple episodes of Z! True Long Island Story, a YouTube series by WWE professional wrestler Zack Ryder. He was most recently spotted at an episode of Raw.