Dennis Haskins

Dennis Haskins
Actor Dennis Haskins in web series "Acting School Academy"
Occupation	Actor

Dennis Haskins (born november 181950) 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.

Biography

Early life

He was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Haskins is an alum of Notre Dame High School (Chattanooga) in Chattanooga, TN and of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He played basketball at UTC after failing to make the team at the University of Tennessee. Haskins is a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.

Career

Before his foray into acting, Haskins briefly worked as a concert promoter, associating with the likes of Earth, Wind, and Fire and Tom Jones. Haskins played the part of an obnoxious redneck in the pilot episode of "The Dukes of Hazzard" titled "One Armed Bandits". His character hit on Daisy at the Boars Nest and in the process gave her all of the information that would lay out the plot line for the Duke boys through the episode. In the mid-1980s, Haskins was a contestant on Scrabble hosted by Chuck Woolery. In the late 1980s, Haskins was cast as Mr. Belding on Saved By The Bell, which became his most notable role. After the end of the original series, Haskins would continue his role with the spin-off Saved by the Bell: The New Class, until its cancellation in 2000. He has also made guest appearances on a variety of TV series, including The Dukes of Hazzard, 7th Heaven and JAG. Most recently, he appeared in an episode of FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

On the E! True Hollywood Story special on Saved by the Bell, Haskins mentioned his difficulty of obtaining parts, as he is now typecast as Mr. Belding. Haskins grew a moustache and put on a considerable amount of weight to distance himself from the character for a time. Nonetheless, he is still widely recognized by fans of all ages as he travels throughout the United States, and is known to be generous with his time, happily posing for pictures and signing autographs.

Haskins has recently been touring college and high school campuses throughout the country for question-and-answer presentations as well as autograph-signing. His presentation embraces his Saved by the Bell character and he claims he remains good friends with several members of the cast.

Haskins made a surprise appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in January 2007, and reprised the Mr. Belding role for a comedian. The comedian guest got into a 'joking' argument with a lady in the audience who said she did not watch Saved by the Bell re-runs, and then proceeded to name the cast members with the rest of the audience. When he got to Mr. Belding, out came Haskins, who apologized for the 'rudeness' of the comedian and to the lady in the audience, and dragged him off stage by the ear.

Haskins appeared at York College of Pennsylvania for the 1st Annual Relay for Life on April 4, 2008. The all night fundraiser was done to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Haskins signed autographs and took pictures with the participants.

Most recently, Haskins will star in the upcoming web series "Acting School Academy".

Personal life

Haskins is divorced.

Filmography

1. Holly, Jingles and Clyde (2010) ... Santa Claus
2. Acting School Academy (Web Series) (2009)... Martin DeWitt
3. The Legend of Awesomest Maximus (2008) ... Father Jay
4. Creative Differences (2008) ... Tom
5. Stacy's Mom (2008) ... Professor Wood
6. Private High Musical (2008)... Mr. Johnson
7. Robot Chicken (TV series) (V) ... Jigsaw / Mr. Belding
8. Ocean of Pearls (2008) ... Dr. Shultz
9. Ratko: The Dictator's Son (2008) ... Dean Sitlong
10. Sweep The Leg (2007)... Pizza Store owner/dad
11. Revamped (2007) (V) ... Satanist #2
12. The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down (2006)... Himself
13. The Treasure of Painted Forest (2005)... Sheriff Thomas
14. Wild Michigan (2005)... Sheriff Folgar
15. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005)... Coach Murray
16. JAG (2004) (TV Series)... Airport Security S-1
17. Dead End Road (2004)... Mr. Makepiece
18. Tangy Guacamole (2003)... Toss Honeycut
19. Red Water (2003) (TV)... Captain Dale Landry
20. Going Down (2003)... Uncle Frank
21. Dismembered (2003)
22. An Ordinary Killer (2002)... Ronald Smith
23. The Stoneman (2002)... Dean Hendricks
24. Max Keeble's Big Move (2001)... Mr. Kohls
25. 18 (2001)... Laura's Dad
26. The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes (1999)... Boyd Russell
27. Figure It Out: Family Style (1998)... Himself (panelist)
28. Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas (1994) (TV)... Mr. Richard Belding
29. Saved by the Bell: The New Class (1993) (TV series)... Principal Richard Belding
30. Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style (1992) (TV)... Mr. Richard Belding
31. Eyewitness to Murder (1991)... Dr. Baldwin
32. The Image (1990) (TV)... Steven Fish
33. Saved by the Bell (1989) (TV series)... Principal Richard Belding
34. Hiroshima Maiden (1988) (TV)... Hal Latimer
35. Good Morning, Miss Bliss (1987) (TV series)... Mr. Richard Belding

References

• Dennis Haskins at Allmovie

External links

• Dennis Haskins at IMDb
• 2003 Interview with Dennis Haskins
• Review of a college performance by Haskins..