| Dennis Haskins | |
 Actor Dennis Haskins in web series "Acting School Academy" |
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| Born | November 18, 1950 Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States |
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| Occupation | Actor |
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.
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Biography
Early life
He was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Haskins is an alumnus of Our Lady of Perpetual Help as well 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. 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.[1]
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.
In a similar vein, Haskins appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in March 2009 with the marching band of his alma mater, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He was the first member of the Saved By The Bell Cast to agree to participate in a Reunion on the Show. [2] He also encouraged viewer participation through the petition for the reunion on the Late Night website. Four other cast members (Lark Voorhies, Mario Lopez, Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Elizabeth Berkeley) have since signed on. [3]
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". [4]
Filmography
- Good Morning, Miss Bliss (1987) (TV series)... Mr. Richard Belding
- Hiroshima Maiden (1988) (TV)... Hal Latimer
- Saved by the Bell (1989) (TV series)... |Principal Richard Belding
- The Image (1990) (TV)... Steven Fish
- Eyewitness to Murder (1991)... Dr. Baldwin
- Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style (1992) (TV)... Mr. Richard Belding
- Saved by the Bell: The New Class (1993) (TV series)... |Principal Richard Belding
- Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas (1994) (TV)... Mr. Richard Belding
- Figure It Out: Family Style (1998)... Himself (panelist)
- The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes (1999)... Boyd Russell
- 18 (2001)... Laura's Dad
- Max Keeble's Big Move (2001)... Mr. Kohls
- The Stoneman (2002)... Dean Hendricks
- An Ordinary Killer (2002)... Ronald Smith
- Dismembered (2003)
- Going Down (2003)... Uncle Frank
- Red Water (2003) (TV)... Captain Dale Landry
- Tangy Guacamole (2003)... Toss Honeycut
- Dead End Road (2004)... Mr. Makepiece
- JAG (2004) (TV Series)... Airport Security S-1
- It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005)... Coach Murray
- Wild Michigan (2005)... Sheriff Folgar
- The Treasure of Painted Forest (2005)... Sheriff Thomas
- The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down (2006)... Himself
- Revamped (2007) (V) ... Satanist #2
- Sweep The Leg (2007)... Pizza Store owner/dad
- Ratko: The Dictator's Son (2008) ... Dean Sitlong
- Ocean of Pearls (2008) ... Dr. Shultz
- Robot Chicken (TV series) (V) ... Jigsaw / Mr. Belding
- Private High Musical (2008)... Mr. Johnson
- Stacy's Mom (2008) ... Professor Wood
- Creative Differences (2008) ... Tom
- The Legend of Awesomest Maximus (2008) ... Father Jay
- Acting School Academy (Web Series) (2009)... Martin DeWitt
- Holly, Jingles and Clyde (2010) ... Santa Claus
References
External links
- Dennis Haskins at the Internet Movie Database
- 2003 Interview with Dennis Haskins
- Review of a college performance by Haskins..
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