The cast of 'Saved By the Bell': Where are they now?

There was a time when Zack Morris was arguably the biggest teen heartthrob on TV. Even years after “Good Morning, Miss Bliss” (the show that inspired “Saved by the Bell”), “Saved by the Bell,” the spin-off shows and the TV movies ended, it would be hard to convince anyone that Mark-Paul Gosselaar would ever be known for something other than playing Zack. But Gosselaar continued to act and worked his way up to shows like “NYPD Blue,” “Raising the Bar,” “Franklin & Bash,” “CSI,” “Truth Be Told” and “Pitch,” to name just a few. More recently, he had regular roles on the TV Land series “Nobodies” (as himself) and Fox’s “The Passage,” but both were canceled. Quickly rebounding, Gosselaar will continue to put Zack in his rearview mirror as a lead on the “Black-ish” spin-off “Mixed-ish,” which is slated for a Sept. 24, 2019 premiere on ABC. In sum, of all the “Saved by the Bell” main cast members, Gosselaar, now 45, has found the most success.

A popular cheerleader and the on-again, off-again girlfriend of Zack (whom she later married), Kelly Kapowski was, of course, played by actress Thiessen. “Saved by the Bell” was essentially the first role of Thiessen’s career, and after appearing in almost every episode, as well as “Saved by the Bell: The College Years” and “Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Vegas,” it remains her most famous role. However, Thiessen also starred on “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place,” “Fastlane,” “What About Brian?” and “White Collar” as well as films like “Son in Law” (1993) and “The Ladies Man” (2000). Thiessen, 45, currently stars on the Netflix sitcom “Alexa & Katie,” which was recently renewed for a third season and features the actress playing Lori, the titular Alexa’s mother.

Out of all of Bayside students, Samuel “Screech” Powers was the only one to appear in every “Saved by the Bell” iteration in the franchise. Since then, many of his roles in other films and TV shows have been cameos as himself or Screech, including the films “Pauly Shore is Dead” (2003) and “Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star” (also 2003), as well as the shows “Robot Chicken” and “Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell,” the latter of which, in 2016, was his most recent credit. Diamond has also appeared on the reality shows “Celebrity Boxing 2,” “Celebrity Fit Club” and “Celebrity Championship Wrestling,” but actual reality has been a little tougher on the actor, who served three months in prison in 2015 after getting into a bar brawl and allegedly stabbing a man during the altercation.

Lark Voorhies played the fashionable, wealthy girl of the group (and the near-constant object of Screech’s affection), Lisa Turtle. Voorhies had a handful of TV roles, including “Good Morning, Miss Bliss,” before “Saved by the Bell,” and she followed that with an extended run on “Days of Our Lives” and stints on “The Bold and the Beautiful,” “In the House” and “The Parkers,” among many other TV shows, music videos and movies (most notably 2001’s “How High”). However, Voorhies’ last role was in 2012, and her life has reportedly been a bit of a struggle lately, as the 45-year-old has had to deal with a divorce and a lupus diagnosis in the last few years, and she has subsequently opted to keep a private life.

As good at sports as he was with the female students at Bayside, A.C. Slater was of course played by Mario Lopez for all 86 episodes of “Saved by the Bell,” not to mention its various spinoffs. Now 45, Lopez is known for either playing himself in movies and TV shows or as a host extraordinaire, considering he’s helmed the shows “Extra,” “America's Best Dance Crew,” “Pet Star” and “The X Factor,” in addition to several others, as well as the iHeartRadio Countdown and the Miss America pageant. Lopez also had lengthy stays on “The Bold and the Beautiful” and “The Chica Show,” a short run on “Nip/Tuck” and, most recently, the Disney animated series “Elena of Avalor.” 

Playing Jessie Spano on “Saved by the Bell” wasn’t Elizabeth Berkley’s first role (she already had a handful of TV credits, including “Silver Spoons”), but it still remains her most iconic one performance. Berkley played the intelligent, liberal, former caffeine-pill addict and one-time girlfriend of A.C. Slater for 75 episodes, which is longer than her later stints on shows like “NYPD Blue,” “Titus,” “The L Word,” “CSI: Miami” and, most recently, “New Girl” in 2016. Additionally, Berkley has appeared in many films — most notably “Showgirls” (1995) — and is also an accomplished thespian, having appeared in both Broadway and off-Broadway productions.

Dennis Haskins had at least a dozen roles before “Saved by the Bell,” including stints on “CHiPs,” “Knots Landing,” “Dukes of Hazzard” and “Good Morning, Miss Bliss,” but playing Principal Belding on “Saved by the Bell” was the biggest role of his career at the time. And although he has since appeared on shows like “The Practice,” “The West Wing,” “7th Heaven,” “JAG,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Men of a Certain Age” and “How I Met Your Mother” — not to mention a couple of dozen films — most people still know him only as Mr. Belding. Of course, Haskins reprised the character on every “Saved by the Bell” spinoff as well as several other shows, so we think he’s OK with being Belding. In other roles, most recently Haskins appeared in the family film “Bennett’s Song” (2018) and the drama “Clemency” (2019).

Somewhat surprisingly, the character of Max (owner of the teens’ local hangout, “The Max”) compiled nearly two dozen appearances on “Saved by the Bell” — the most outside of the main cast. After the show ended in 1992, actor Ed Alonzo appeared on a 1993 episode of “Murphy Brown” and then didn’t have another TV or film appearance in almost 20 years. However, Alonzo has continued to work in entertainment, as he is a successful and renowned magician who has worked on illusions for Katy Perry, Britney Spears, David Blaine and the amusement parks Knott's Berry Farm in California and Kings Island in Ohio. Alonzo is best friends with fellow actor and magician Neil Patrick Harris, and he appeared on an episode of “How I Met Your Mother” in 2012. More recently, Alonzo could be seen on several episodes of The CW’s “Masters of Illusion.”

Leanna Creel was the actress behind the motorcycle-riding tough girl and one-time love interest of Zack, Tori Scott. However, Creel didn’t remain an actress for long, as her only credits after “Saved by the Bell” were two minor TV appearances and small parts in the films “Freeway” (1996) and “The Cell” (2000). Instead, Creel has founded two production companies and currently runs Creel Studio — a full-service production company that specializes in food, wine and real estate — with her wife of 11 years, Rinat Greenberg. The couple has two sons together.

Before, during and after playing the dumb jock, Ox, on “Saved by the Bell,” actor Troy Fromin could be seen dying in numerous horror films as well as some scattered TV appearances. He continued to act until 1999 but then took a 16-year hiatus. Fromin made his return to TV with shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Murder in the First,” but he hasn’t forgotten his horror roots. Recently, the slasher victim extraordinaire has appeared in “Bikini Car Wash Massacre” (2017) and “It Wants Blood!” (2019), as well as the silly comedy “Horndogs Beach Party” (2018).

While playing Stacey Carosi, one of Zack’s summer love interests, Leah Remini stuck around for seven episodes of “Saved by the Bell.” Since then, she has had numerous TV roles that lasted much longer. Remini is probably best known for playing Carrie Heffernan on “The King of Queens” for nine seasons, but she also had lengthy stints on “Family Tools,” “The Exes,” “The Talk” and most recently a reunion with Kevin James on “Kevin Can Wait.” Remini is also known for hosting and producing A&E’s documentary series “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath,” based on her true experiences getting into and out of the religion.

Like Remini, Ernie Sabella is among the few folks in this list who is more famous for something other than “Saved by the Bell,” the show in which he portrayed Leon Carosi, who was Stacey’s father and the gang’s summer boss at the resort. However, Sabella is best known as the man behind Pumba in the original 1994 version of Disney’s “The Lion King” as well as all its sequels, prequels and video games. Although he had a plethora of classic TV credits to his name (shows like “Newhart,” “The Facts of Life,” “Perfect Strangers” and “Hill Street Blues”) before getting cast as Pumba, Sabella has since found steady work reprising the character, including at his at current job, the Disney Junior series “The Lion Guard.”

As a teenager, Tori Spelling became incredibly popular for concurrently having a small role on “Saved by the Bell” (where she played Violet Bickerstaff, a short-lived nerdy character who briefly dated Screech) and a starring role as Donna Martin on “Beverly Hills, 90210.” This led to steady work over the following years — including as herself and reprising the role of Donna — but Spelling’s career and personal life both took a turn when she experienced financial trouble after her reality show, “Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Home,” was canceled in 2012. Spelling quickly rebounded, and recently she could be seen on “The Masked Singer” (as the Unicorn) and “BH90210” (as Donna, of course) as well as the TV film “The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time.”

For a guy who only appeared in a handful of episodes, Mr. Tuttle had a lot of jobs at Bayside. He was a driver's ed teacher, a music teacher, a glee club adviser and a teacher’s union leader, in addition to being a confidant of both the students of Bayside and Mr. Belding. However, Jack Angeles, the actor who portrayed the high school teacher, didn’t have nearly as many roles as an actor. He appeared in a few TV shows, movies and miniseries prior to and during “Saved by the Bell” but afterward only had three more roles: the TV movies “Fade to Black” (1993) and “Rubdown” (1993) as well as a brief appearance in “Mousehunt” (1997). Twelve years later, at the age of 59, Angeles died suddenly after a brief hospitalization.

Remember Ginger Baldwin, the cheery and slightly ditzy blonde who briefly dated Zack in season 4? She was played by former Miss Teen USA Bridgette Wilson, who would later also make her mark as Adam Sandler’s teacher and girlfriend, Veronica Vaughn, in “Billy Madison” (1995); the bespectacled murder victim Elsa Shivers in “I Know What You Did Last Summer” (1997); the bride-to-be, Fran, in “The Wedding Planner” (2001) and Bridget Deshiel on the Fox drama “The $treet” (2000-2001). Wilson retired from acting in 2008, a few years after her and her husband, tennis legend Pete Sampras, welcomed their second son.

Patrick Muldoon only had one credit to his name before his brief stint as Jeffrey Hunter, the manager of The Max and the unfaithful boyfriend of Kelly Kapowski. However, Muldoon has acted steadily ever since, and he seems to increase his workload with each passing year. You might also know him from playing Richard Hart on a couple of seasons of “Melrose Place” or his decade as Austin on “Days of Our Lives,” among many other TV and movie roles. Most recently, in the last year, Muldoon could be seen in the family films “A Dog and Pony Show” and “Bernie the Dolphin” as well as the horror flick “Alpha Wolf.” Muldoon is also the frontman for the rock band The Sleeping Masses.

Before a starring part on “Party of Five” and regular roles on “Spin City,” “Everwood,” “The Nine,” “V,” “NCIS,” “Perception” and “The Night Shift,” Scott Wolf was an unnamed and uncredited extra on “Saved by the Bell.” Over three seasons in Bayside, Wolf played a waiter at The Max, a movie patron and a member of the glee club. This year, he’ll be in the CW’s upcoming TV adaptation of “Nancy Drew” and the film “Inside Game,” which tells the real-life story of disgraced NBA ref Tim Donaghy.