Hollywood is mourning one of its most beloved authority figures. Dennis Haskins, the actor who spent thirteen seasons scolding — and secretly adoring — Zack Morris and the rest of Bayside High as Principal Richard Belding, has died at age 75.

Haskins' death was first reported by TMZ on September 28, with his agent, Jay Schachter, confirming the news to Deadline. A cause of death has not been released, though outlets including Rolling Stone note Haskins had been privately battling Parkinson's disease in recent years.

From Miss Bliss to Bayside

Haskins first slipped into Belding's signature blazer for the Disney Channel's short-lived "Good Morning, Miss Bliss" in 1988, a full year before NBC retooled the show into the sleepover-and-locker-room classic that would define his career. He carried the role through "Saved by the Bell," "Saved by the Bell: The College Years," and "Saved by the Bell: The New Class," logging thirteen seasons total as the exasperated, big-haired disciplinarian who somehow never managed to catch Zack Morris in the act.

Beyond Bayside, Haskins picked up guest spots on prestige fare including "The West Wing," "Mad Men" and "How I Met Your Mother," proof he could do more than deliver a stern hallway lecture. In 2015 he reunited with his onscreen students for a sketch on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," a moment that reminded a generation raised on reruns exactly why the character stuck.

"HE WAS KNOWN TO MOST AS MR. BELDING FROM 'SAVED BY THE BELL,' BUT TO US, HE WAS MUCH MORE THAN THAT."

That tribute came from Dimples, the Chattanooga-area karaoke bar Haskins frequented near his hometown, where staff remembered him as a regular rather than a celebrity. It's a fitting coda for an actor whose most famous role was, in its own goofy way, about a man who genuinely cared what happened to the kids under his watch.

Tributes have poured in from fans and former castmates since the news broke, with social media flooding with clips of Belding's greatest freak-outs — the two-way mirror, the "hot sundae" bake sale bust, the endless suspicion of Slater and Zack. For a certain generation, Haskins wasn't just a sitcom principal; he was practically a fixture of Saturday morning childhood.

No memorial service details have been announced.