Radar Online reported the “Saved by the Bell” actor had long spoken about a 2009 reunion snub.
Dennis Haskins, the actor best known for playing Bayside High principal Richard “Mr. Belding” on “Saved by the Bell,” has died at 75, according to Radar Online, which framed his death against a grievance he discussed for years: being left out of a 2009 cast reunion photo shoot.
The publication said Haskins felt deeply hurt by the exclusion from the gathering, which involved former co-stars including Mario Lopez, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tiffani Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley and Lark Voorhies. In remarks quoted by Radar from that period, Haskins argued he had “earned the right” to be included and said he wanted it understood that staying away had not been his decision.
It is a slightly melancholy coda for an actor whose role was, in pop-memory terms, pure institution. “Saved by the Bell” ran from 1989 to 1993 and turned Mr. Belding into one of those rare sitcom authority figures who were stern enough to structure the joke and warm enough to survive it. Haskins was not one of the teen idols on the posters, but he was part of the show’s architecture, which is exactly why the reunion slight appears to have landed so hard.
Radar also revisited rumors that circulated around the 2009 photo shoot, including claims that Haskins and Dustin Diamond were excluded as a condition of participation by other cast members. Those claims are presented as rumors in the report, not established fact. Diamond, who played Screech, died in 2021.
What is better supported is Haskins’ own public record of mixed feelings: injured by the snub, but still protective of the show and at least some of the people in it. Radar cited a 2015 Reddit post in which he described working on the series as “one of the best” experiences of his life and wrote warmly about Diamond, saying the actor would “always have a special place” with him.
That combination — professional pride, public hurt, and a refusal to torch the whole memory — feels very specific to a certain generation of TV ensemble history. Reboots and reunions sell nostalgia as if it were a clean asset. It usually isn’t. Someone gets cropped out, literally or socially, and the soft-focus affection suddenly looks a lot like gatekeeping in studio lighting.
Radar’s excerpt did not include further detail about the reported death beyond Haskins’ age.
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