Everyone knows the show, everyone knows the theme song, and everyone knows the characters. The Saved By The Bell dominated TV in the 90s, being one of the most watch TV shows in television history. From the love affair between Kelly Kapowski and Zack Morris, and the famous fight between A.C.
Slater and Jessie Spano, the Saved By The Bell was the starting point for so many stars we know and love today. Let’s take a look at the stars of the Saved By The Bell - Then and Now! You won't believe what they look like now...
Mark-Paul Gosselaar was the perfect casting choice to play the lead Zack Morris. He was rebellious, but also cleverly the “cool” guy that cared more than he let on in school.
His character was known for addressing the tv audience in a "time out” manner and engaged in an infamous on-again, off-again romance with Kelly Kapowski.
Gosselaar went on to star in NYPD Blue, Franklin & Bash, and CSI since Saved by the Bell ended in 1992. He’s been married twice with 4 kids.
From his first marriage, Gosselaar has 2 children. He has another 2 kids with his second wife, advertising executive Catriona McGinn, since they married in 2012.
Mario Lopez played the ever-so-charming A.C. Slater, and Zack Morris’ best friend/wingman.
Slater was the token jock of the Saved by the Bell friends group, often referenced as the stereotypical, all-star athlete. He was also remembered for his unlikely relationship with Elizabeth Berkley’s Jessie Spano.
Following Saved by the Bell, Mario Lopez set aside his acting and set his sights on other TV gigs. Now, he’s the host of Extra, The X-Factor, and America’s Best Dance Crew.
In 2008, he made his Broadway debut as Zach in A Chorus Line. Lopez is married to his second wife, Courtney Mazza, and they have 2 children together. Other than acting, he is learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has earned his blue belt.
Jessie Spano, played by Elizabeth Berkley, was the over-achieving perfectionist who ends up in an unlikely love affair with A.C. Slater.
Jessie was the ultimate 90’s feminist who was unofficial “smart” one of the group and lived next door to Zack Morris since they were kids.
Elizabeth Berkley tried her hand at film acting following the closure of Saved by the Bell, starring in the controversial flick Showgirls. She also guest-starred on hit tv shows such as The L Word, CSI: Miami, and she also competed on the reality dance competition Dancing With The Stars.
Elizabeth has 1 child with her husband, Greg Lauren.
Tori Spelling had a small character arc as Violet on Saved by the Bell.
Most fans of the teen comedy would have urged Screech to give up his dream of dating Lisa Turtle and go for the nerdy version of him – played by the not so nerdy Tori Spelling.
A few years after her guest role on Saved by the Bell, Tori joined another one of her father’s hit shows – Beverly Hills: 90210. She quickly became a teenage icon and from there, decided to immerse herself in the world of film.
She starred in several made for tv films like A Friend to Die For, The Mistle-Tones, and Mother, May I Sleep with Danger? Tori became a best-selling author in 2009 with her autobiography, Stori Telling, and had a reality tv show with her husband, titled Tori & Dean.
Screech Powers, famously played by Dustin Diamond, was the goofball of the group on Saved by the Bell. His nerdiness was as agitating as it was funny and as much as the other characters became annoyed by him, they loved him even more.
He was close with Zack Morris and played in his band, The Zack Attack, and was pretty much an undercover genius.
Dustin Diamond has been on a downhill slide since his days on Saved by the Bell. He was recently arrested after stabbing a man in a bar and charged on additional weapon charges following his booking.
Prior to his arrest, he released a tape of “adult” nature and published a Saved by the Bell tell-all. He is currently in prison, again, for violating the terms of his probation in May 2016.
Lark Voorhies was responsible for the role of Lisa Turtle, a fashionista and the self-proclaimed “gossip queen” of Bayside.
She was the only member of the group to see Screech in a different light, as opposed to his nerd persona and agreed to go with him to their senior prom.
Lark’s acting career took a nosedive after Saved by the Bell but she did star in a few major pictures including The Next Hit and How High. She had a recurring character arc on The Bold and the Beautiful, as well.
Since 2010, the former teen star has published 3 books and has been married twice. As of 2012, it was confirmed by Lark’s mother that she struggled with bipolar disorder.
Dennis Haskins played the Saved by the Bell’s group high school principal who remained a solid member of the cast until Saved by the Bell: The New Class in 2000. In 2015, Haskins reprised his role as Mr.
Belding on the Jimmy Kimmel show during the long-awaited, yet totally brief, cast reunion.
Dennis Haskins hasn’t appeared in much since his time spent on the teen show as Principal Belding. In recent years, he released a music album, has appeared in Z!
True Long Island Story, and can be seen here and there on Hot in Cleveland alongside Betty White and Valeria Bertinelli. Currently, word on the street is that he’s lobbying to get on Dancing with the Stars.
Max, played by comic genius Ed Alonzo, appeared in 20 episodes of Saved by the Bell for the first 2 seasons. He was usually seen working or hanging out at The Max and was known for giving advice to the Saved by the Bell gang.
Usually, this advice came in the form of childish magic tricks.
Ed Alonzo, who is called “vampire” on his wiki page, is still perfecting the art of illusion. He has worked on The Circus Tour for Britney Spears and the This Is It Tour for Michael Jackson, lending his experienced hand to magic tricks and illusions for the shows’ performance art.
He also surprised Modern Family fans by making a guest appearance on the critically acclaimed sitcom.
Leanna Creel was famous for playing Tori Scott on Saved by the Bell, one of Zack’s more favorable girlfriends. Tori was different from Kelly in that she was a rebel with a leather jacket, instead of a cheerleader with perky pom-poms.
Leanna only took the role, which was slated to go for 10 weeks only, so she could pay her tuition fee at UCLA.
During her time on Saved by the Bell, Leanna learned that her real passion was in the art of producing. Today, she produces webisodes for the Food Network and Yahoo, and she also launched her own photography company.
She has 2 children with her wife, Rinat Greenberg, whom she always works side by side with.
After she made a name for herself as Punky Brewster, Soleil Moon Frye grew up into the perfect Saved by the Bell guest star. In season 4, Soleil plays a new student named Robin at Bayside High that likes Zack Morris and, wait for it, Screech Powers.
At the end of the episode, we come to learn that she’s just a gold-digger after their teenage piggy banks.
Soleil joined the cast of Sabrina the Teenage Witch in 2000 and stayed on as Melissa Joan Hart’s roommate until the series wrapped a couple of years later. Since then, Punky B.
has been working as a voice actor actress and launched her own organic clothing line for children. She’s been married since 1998, to producer Jason Goldberg, and they have 4 children together.
Ernie Sabella played Leon Carosi, the manager of the Malibu Sands Beach Club. He employs the members of the Saved by the Bell gang for 1 summer, with the exception of Lisa Turtle who already happens to be a guest at the resort.
Leon, as a boss, was brutally tough but secretly sensitive.
Off the small-screen, Ernie Sabella is a broadway performer who has appeared in Cats, Guys & Dols, Sweet Charity, and Chicago. He’s also recognized as the voice of Pumbaa in the Lion King franchise.
Sabella has also had small roles in shows like Seinfeld, Blue Bloods, and Quantum Leap.
Leah Remini popped up on Saved by the Bell as Zack’s summer fling, Stacy Corrosi. Stacy was a hip, sassy girl from the East Coast who met Zack while he and the gang were working at the Sands Beach Club in Malibu.
Leah’s character was one of the only women on the show to make Zack work for what he wanted.
Today, Leah Remini is best known for her role on King of Queens, opposite Kevin James as Carrie Heffernan. She also co-hosted The Talk from 2010 until 2011 and starred in her own show, Leah Remini: It’s All Relative.
Leah met her husband, Angelo Pagán, in 1996 and they married in 2003; they have 1 child together. Prior to her marriage, Leah abandoned her place in the Church of Scientology and converted to Catholicism.
Patrick Muldoon played the Saved by the Bell character that taught all teenage girls a valuable lesson. As Jeff, the manager of The Max, he dated Kelly and like, a million other girls.
Kelly had dumped Zack to go out with Jeff and eventually, she realized she made a big mistake.
A year after he landed his role on Saved by the Bell, Patrick was offered the part of the original Austin Reed on Days of Our Lives. Then, in 1995, he played Richard Hart on Melrose Place from 1995 until 1996.
Today, he’s the frontman of the rock band, The Sleeping Masses.
Of course, Eric Dane would pop up on Saved by the Bell as one of Zack and Slater’s athletic rivals. Dane had a guest spot in season 3, episode The Game, where rivals the Saved by the Bell gang at beach volleyball.
Pictured below, he’s the one in the hot pink shirt and if we remember correctly, his name was Tad.
Eric Dane was in another Aaron Spelling tv show in the early 2000’s; Charmed. Later, he would be offered a role on Grey’s Anatomy that dubbed him with the affectionate nickname of Dr. McSteamy.
He also appeared in Valentine’s Day, Marley & Me, and Burlesque. Currently, Eric Dane stars on The Last Ship as Captain Tom Chandler.
Christine Taylor made an appearance as Heather in the episode SAT, where she plays a student who (obviously) had a crush on Zack.
For some unexplainable reason, Zack scores 1500 on his SAT’s and Heather asked him to help her study.
Christine Taylor had a number of notable roles following her appearance on Saved by the Bell. She starred in Nickelodeon’s Hey Dude, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, The Wedding Singer, and as Marcia Brady in The Brady Bunch Movie.
Christine also starred alongside her husband, Ben Stiller, in Zoolander. Ben and Christine live in New York with their 2 children.
Denise Richards was cast in Saved by the Bell to do what she does best – look good in a bikini. Richards played the character of Cynthia in season 3 who falls for Slater.
Cynthia gets Slater’s attention at the Malibu Sands Beach Club by pretending to drown. Smooth.
Gabrielle Union didn’t play just one character on Saved by the Bell – she played 2! During seasons 3 and 4 of Saved by the Bell: The New Class, she played Hilary and Jennifer.
Not at the same time, of course. Her roles weren’t very dominating but it’s safe to say that most Saved by the Bell fans remember her as a Highlander student; both times.
Gabrielle Union isn’t just your ordinary Hollywood actress, these days. She’s starred in major box-office grossing films like 10 Things I Hate About You, Bring It On, The Brothers, Think Like A Man, and Cadillac Records.
She currently stars in Being Mary Jane on the BET Network. Gabrielle has been married to Miami Heat player Dwayne Wade since 2014.
During the ’90s, Denise starred in hits such as Wild Things, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Valentine, and became a Bond Girl in The World Is Not Enough. From 2008 until 2009, she had her own reality series, Denise Richards: It’s Complicated.
The E! reality show was centered around her complex family life with Charlie Sheen and their children.
James Marsden, for once, played the bad guy in the homecoming episode of Saved by the Bell. Marsden’s character, Chad Westerfield, pretended to like everyone so he could be crowned homecoming king.
By the end of the episode, he was exposed as someone who was “anti-nerd.”
Today, it’s hard to go see a movie or turn on the television without seeing James Marsden’s perfect face. His list of film and tv credits include Party of Five, Touched by an Angel, the X-Men franchise, Westworld, Hairspray, 27 Dresses, and Anchorman 2.
Marsden has 2 children with his first wife and 1 child with his ex-girlfriend, Rose Costa. He is currently dating British singer, Edei.
Milo Ventimiglia joined the cast of Saved by the Bell: The New Class as a hospital worker named Greg. Greg, kind of like another Screech, couldn’t get a lady friend no matter how hard he tried.
Luckily for Milo today, he literally has the opposite problem…
Milo Ventimiglia made hearts melt as Jess on Gilmore Girls and then moved on to bigger and better things as a superhero who actually got to date, Hayden Panettiere.
Recently, Milo reprised his role as Jess in the Gilmore Girls revival and plays the ever-popular and most beloved character on NBC’s This Is Us, Jack Pearson.
Kelly Kapowski was easily the most popular character on Saved by the Bell, for many obvious reasons.
Tiffani Amber Thiessen’s character portrayal of the sweet, innocent cheerleader made her a pop culture icon and her on-screen relationship with Zack Morris is considered one of the most beloved of all time.
Tiffani traded in her good-girl image to replace Shannon Doherty on Beverly Hills: 90210 following Saved by the Bell. She’s also starred in White Collar, What About Brian, and Fastlane.
Today, the former teen idol hosts her own show on the Cooking Channel, Dinner at Tiffani’s. Tiffani has been married to Brady Smith since 2005 and they have 2 sons.