“He played the principal, but Dennis was the biggest kid on the SBTB set,” Mario Lopez says

The surviving cast members of Saved by the Bell are paying tribute to actor Dennis Haskins, who played the high school sitcom’s beleaguered principal, Mr. Belding. News of Haskins’ death at age 75 broke Tuesday, though a cause of death is not yet public.

“[I’m] heartbroken to hear about my old friend Dennis Haskins,” actor Mario Lopez, who played the jock, A.C. Slater, wrote on social media. “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! I’m grateful for the laughs, the memories, and the friendship we shared all these years. Rest easy, my friend. You’ll always be part of our Bayside family. ❤️ “

Tiffani Thiessen, who played cheerleader Kelly Kapowski on the show, remembered him on Instagram. “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 wrote. “I will always remember his kindness and be grateful for the memories we as a cast got to share with him.”

And Lark Voorhies, the show’s wealthy Lisa Turtle, similarly praised Haskins’ kindness. “Knowing Dennis Haskins for almost 40 years has been one of the truest blessings of my life, which makes losing him hurt so deeply,” she wrote on Instagram. “We shared so much history together from our earliest days, and through it all, he remained a fabulous person, a loyal friend, and someone with such a kind, gentle heart. I am truly heartbroken by his passing and will miss his warmth and laughter more than words can say.”

Haskins was a mainstay of the series and its many revivals. He played Richard Belding on Good Morning, Miss Bliss, the show that preceded Saved by the Bell, and resumed the role on Saved by the Bell’s four seasons. He also played Belding in the TV movies Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style and Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas, the latter of which occurred in the timeline after Saved by the Bell: The College Years (which he guested on). He also reprised the Belding role for Saved by the Bell: The New Class, which ran between 1993 and 2000.