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Dennis Haskins

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Dennis Haskins
Haskins in 2009
Born (1950-11-18) November 18, 1950 (age 74)
Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1979–present
SpouseDianne Haskins (divorced)
Children1

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.

Early life

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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. Dennis Haskins currently splits his time between Los Angeles and Winthrop, Massachusetts.

Before breaking into acting, Haskins was a contestant on the TV game shows Press Your Luck and Scrabble.

Career

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Television and film

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Before his role on Saved by the Bell, Haskins appeared in several episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard in different roles. In the pilot episode, he plays a Boar's Nest patron whom Daisy thrashes after he attempts to grope her while she's working as a waitress.

Haskins, who auditioned seven times[1] for the role of Mr. Belding, first appeared as the character 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 brief cameo as himself in the 2006 film The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down.

As a guest on the March 4, 2010 episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Haskins boasted he was capable of bench pressing 150 pounds as a senior member of Notre Dame men's varsity basketball team.

On February 4, 2015, Haskins reunited with Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Elizabeth Berkley, Mario Lopez and Tiffani Thiessen on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon where they appeared in a Saved by the Bell sketch with Fallon.[2][3][4]

He appeared in the 2014 film A Million Ways to Die in the West as a snake oil salesman at the fair.

In recent years, he has been lobbying to become a cast member on ABC's Dancing With The Stars.[5]

Music and other media

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On August 31, 2009, Haskins released his first music album called "Karaoke with Your Favorite Principal Dennis."[6][7] 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.[8] More recently, in 2010, Haskins appeared in the video for "See You in Shell" by experimental metalcore band Iwrestledabearonce, which parodied Saved by the Bell and films by John Hughes.

Haskins is also a fan of professional wrestling and WWE. He has appeared in multiple episodes of Z! True Long Island Story, a YouTube series by WWE professional wrestler Zack Ryder. He is also friends with former Los Angeles Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt.

On July 14, 2016, Haskins performed on stage with the 90s themed band, Saved by the 90s, in Toledo, Ohio, at a Toledo Mud Hens minor league baseball game.

Haskins appears in the music video for Dirty Heads' "Vacation". He is seen in an empty high school lip syncing to the entire track.[9]

Haskins also appears in the music video for Khalid's "Young Dumb & Broke" where he plays a principal making an end of year announcement over the school's intercom.

Filmography

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Awards

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Haskins was honored with The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Most Distinguished Alumni of 2000 award and has a regional high school academic decathlon named after him, The Dennis Haskins Open, now in its eleventh year.[10]

References

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  1. ^ "Dennis Haskins (Mr. Belding!) Talks About His Career and Says, "I'm not done!"". Daily Actor. October 20, 2009.
  2. ^ "Watch a Glorious Saved by the Bell Reunion Courtesy of Jimmy Fallon". Time. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  3. ^ "Jimmy Fallon assembled the cast of 'Saved by the Bell' for an epic reunion". Business Insider. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  4. ^ "Jimmy Fallon reunites most of the 'Saved by the Bell' cast". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  5. ^ "Dennis Haskins". Dennis Haskins. Archived from the original on 2012-03-31. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  6. ^ Dennis Haskins. "Karaoke With Your Favorite Principal Dennis". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  7. ^ "Dennis Haskins on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  8. ^ "Dennis Haskins (dennishaskins) on Myspace". Myspace.com. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  9. ^ Five Seven Music (13 July 2017). "Dirty Heads – Vacation (Official Video)". Archived from the original on 2021-12-22 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ "Dennis Haskins". Dennis Haskins. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
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