Dennis Haskins, known to a generation as Principal Belding on "Saved by the Bell," has died at 75 as co-stars pay tribute.

His longtime agent, Jay Schachter, confirmed the death on Monday to ABC News. No cause of death has been released, and the exact date and place were not disclosed.

For millions of viewers who grew up in the late 1980s and 1990s, Haskins was the steady adult in the hallway at fictional Bayside High. He played Principal Richard Belding across the franchise that defined after-school comedy for a huge stretch of American kids.

Fox News reported that the cause remains unknown and that Haskins is survived by his son, Dustin. The loss quickly drew warm notes from the cast that shared the set with him for years.

Mr. Belding ran Bayside from 1989 through 2000

Haskins first appeared as Principal Belding in 1989 on Disney Channel’s "Good Morning, Miss Bliss." The show was reworked into NBC’s "Saved by the Bell," which ran four seasons from 1989 to 1993.

He kept the role on "Saved by the Bell: The New Class" for seven more seasons, from 1993 to 2000. That run locked him in as the face of the principal’s office for more than a decade of family-hour television.

The last time he put the character back on was in 2015, in a "Saved by the Bell" sketch on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon." Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Elizabeth Berkley, Mario Lopez, and Tiffani Thiessen rejoined him for the bit.

In May 2018 he turned up again for fans at the Saved By the Max pop-up opening in West Hollywood, California, still happy to stand in as the grown-up from Bayside. Entertainment losses have come in clusters lately, including the passing of Michael Wright of "The Five Heartbeats" after heart failure.

Tennessee roots and a career built on decency

Just The News noted that Haskins was born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga before the Hollywood years took hold.

That background fit the part. Belding was firm without cruelty, present without preening, the kind of authority figure network TV once served up without apology. Haskins carried the same manner offscreen with the people who paid for tickets and stood in lines.

Schachter, who also spoke with Breitbart, stressed how far that warmth went.

Schachter said:

"It's a tragic loss. Everyone loved Mr. Belding and those of us who got to know Dennis, loved him even more. He was a great person, and he loved, I mean absolutely LOVED his fans. He always had time for them, no matter what,"

In an era when celebrity often means distance and branding, that habit stood out. Other recent goodbyes in public life, from rock stages to city beats, have hit the same nerve, including coverage of Angry Anderson’s death on a farewell tour.

Castmates remember the biggest kid on the set

Tiffani Thiessen, who played Kelly Kapowski, released a statement that put Haskins at the center of her teenage working life.

Thiessen said:

"Dennis Haskins was a steady presence in my teenage years, the kind of figure who kept us in line while making sure we knew he was in our corner,"

She added that she would remember his kindness and the memories the cast shared, closing with “RIP Mr. B.”

Mario Lopez, Bayside’s A.C. Slater, wrote on Instagram that he was heartbroken to lose his old friend. He sketched the same man the agent described, not a stiff in a tie, but the spark on the stage.

Lopez wrote:

"He played the principal, but Dennis was the biggest kid on the SBTB set. If you knew him, you loved him -- and if there was karaoke, you knew Dennis was getting on that mic!"

He finished by thanking Haskins for the laughs, the memories, and a friendship that lasted well past the final bell, calling him part of the Bayside family forever.

Lark Voorhies, who played Lisa Turtle, was also among the co-stars offering public tributes as the news spread. The outpouring matched what audiences already sensed: the principal role never swallowed the man. Fans of durable American pop culture have had to mark too many of these passings, among them NYPD’s “Hip-Hop Cop” Derrick Parker at 65.

A simple standard held for decades

Haskins did not need a scandal cycle or a reinvention tour to stay useful to the culture that raised him. He showed up, hit his marks, and treated the people who loved the show like they mattered.

That is rarer than it should be. "Saved by the Bell" was light entertainment, not a sermon. Yet it gave kids a school where trouble had consequences, adults were present, and the principal knew your name.

Haskins made that figure believable for more than ten years on air and many more in reruns. The agent’s words and the cast notes line up on the point that mattered: he loved the audience back.

Wholesome work and basic decency still leave a mark when the credits roll for the last time.