What The Teachers From Saved By The Bell Are Doing Today

Being a teacher at Bayside High must have been a rough gig. Between dealing with slackers like Zack Morris, meatheads like Slater, and whatever the hell Screech was, we can only hope they were compensated well for their hard work — and that's not even factoring in the countless students who disappeared after one episode. Some teachers appeared in several Saved by the Bell episodes. Others were only there for half an episode, but left an indelible mark anyway. Here, we'll be going over what's happened to the actors who portrayed them since they were part of the franchise.

For this list, we'll only be talking about educators that Zack Morris and his friends had — this includes cast members from Good Morning, Miss Bliss, Saved by the Bell, and The College Years. (Sorry not sorry, New Class — you may have run longer, but nobody cares about you.) We also won't be talking about the Peacock revival of Saved by the Bell, given that the series is so new. Also, as the title implies, we'll only be going over teachers — with all due respect to Mr. Belding and even Nurse Jennifer, we need to impose some limits.

Patrick Fabian played Professor Jeremiah Lasky, the most prominent professor throughout The College Years. He developed a rapport with the Bayside alumni in his anthropology class and eventually became the object of Kelly's affections, leading to his kiss with Kelly, which remains one of the show's most infamous moments. Fabian, a young actor at the time, recalls getting lots of fawning fan mail after the first few episodes... only to start receiving exponentially more hate mail after kissing Kelly.

Fabian spent the ensuing decades picking up regular TV work and mid-size movie roles. Some might recognize him from his time on Veronica Mars as Professor Landy or Ted Price on Big Love. Others might have seen him starring in The Last Exorcism or Danny Trejo's direct-to-video Bad Ass movies.

Most, however, probably recognize Fabian from his most prominent role: Howard Hamlin on Better Call Saul. That's right, Fabian has shared the screen with both Jimmy McGill and Zack Morris — two similar men, all things considered.

Fabian still gets recognized as Professor Lasky, usually with a combination of nostalgia and resentment. As he told CinemaBlend, "If I go to my grave right now, they'll say, Better Call Saul, but it might just say 'He Kissed Kelly Kapowski' right on my tombstone. Which is not a bad way to go. If that's what you have to go with, I'll take it."

Miss Bliss was the genesis of the Saved by the Bell franchise, as the title character of Good Morning, Miss Bliss. She offered lessons of both the academic and life variety to a group of Indiana middle schoolers — including Zack, Screech, and Lisa. (How they all ended up in California is one of TV's Great Mysteries.) Miss Bliss was played by Hayley Mills, easily the most prominent name ever attached to a Saved by the Bell property, even if she didn't make the move to Bayside.

Mills is most recognized for her work as a Disney child star during the '60s. Her most memorable role — technically roles – remains twins Susan and Sharon in The Parent Trap. While she never quite maintained the megastar status she held as a child, she's had consistent and often prominent work over the past half century. She was in her early 40s while playing Miss Bliss, a Disney property at the time before NBC bought the rights.

In recent years, Mills has focused on theater and television. She starred in off-Broadway play Party Face in 2018 and played a major role in Acorn TV's 2019 original drama Pitching In. She's also a regular at nostalgia conventions, often appearing with her sister and fellow actor Juliet.

Joan Ryan played Tina Paladrino, the quirky art teacher best friend of Miss Bliss. It was Ryan's first named TV role and she speaks highly of her experience on the show. She doesn't have many screen credits past Good Morning, Miss Bliss, but that doesn't mean she hasn't had a fruitful career. It's just largely taken shape on stage, in recording studios, and in post-production.

Ryan has had a long career acting on stage, with an emphasis on singing. Not long after Good Morning, Miss Bliss ended, she starred in the acclaimed Los Angeles production of Ruthless! She's since performed in starring roles at venues as big as Carnegie Hall and cabaret shows at intimate spaces like Green Room 42. She's also performed the national anthem at Lakers games.

Since the early '90s, Ryan has also co-owned Sounds Great, an ADR studio for television shows and movies. Their website shows dozens upon dozens of credits, ranging from Criminal Minds to Vice Principals to One Tree Hill. Watch any of those shows and one might hear Ryan in the background somewhere.

Ryan lived in Los Angeles for many years but relocated to New York around 2019, where she was performing shows as recently as March 2020.

Raf Mauro played Mr. Dickerson, the teacher with the hardest midterm at Bayside. He haunted Zack and pals — so much so that he showed up during the Fresh Prince intro to taunt them with a rap — before having a breakdown and getting replaced by Rod Belding. Mauro hasn't exactly stopped acting, but he's definitely slowed down — his last screen credit was a bit part in the 2015 indie film Sky. In a 2020 interview on the Saved by Nostalgia podcast, Mauro spoke highly of his stint on Saved by the Bell and revealed what he's doing these days.

The Screen Actors Guild used to have a program called BookPALS, where actors would go into schools and read to students, and Mauro started volunteering with them. "That's faded away now," he said, "but I still volunteer and everyone who ever did it is still volunteering anyway with or without the program." He reads at three different schools every week. Occasionally the kids will recognize him from his old guest spots from shows like Full House that they saw on reruns. He says he often forgets about these roles until residual checks show up, but he's glad new generations of kids are loving the shows the same way the original generation did.

Victor Raider-Wexler played Professor Rich, the popular and seemingly adventurous faculty member who confessed to being a coward just before dying on Zack's couch. His death teaches Zack to live a life full of danger and risk, a strange lesson given that Zack spent six full seasons of television disregarding his own safety. Even so, Raider-Wexler's brief performance left an impact on both Zack and fans.

Raider-Wexler is one of the most under-the-radar That Guy actors of the past quarter century. Instantly recognizable due to his hairline, distinct voice, and Chuck Schumer-style glasses, he's been showing up in bit parts on both the small and silver screen for years.

Raider-Wexler had recurring roles on Everybody Loves Raymond and King of Queens, but his most recognizable guest spot is probably Seinfeld. He played Dr. Wexler, best known as the surgeon during the Junior Mint incident and the man who broke the news of Susan's death. 

In recent years, Raider-Wexler has focused on voice acting. He can be heard as Frederic Estes in the Boss Baby franchise and as Vendel in Guillermo del Toro's Tales of Arcadia trilogy. He also has a long career voicing video game characters, most recently Mehrunes Dagon in Skyrim.

Coach Snoski was played by Monty Hoffman, an under-the-radar comedian highly respected by his peers. He survived a cancer scare in the early 2000s but died in 2013 of causes not made public.

Science teacher Dr. Mertz — best known for offering the test that led to Kelly and Screech briefly dating — was played by Avery Schrieber, a veteran comedian best remembered for his Doritos commercials. Schrieber long struggled with diabetes, an illness that caused a heart attack in the mid-'90s. He died in 2002 of a second heart attack, having never fully recovered from the first.

Jack Angeles had the recurring role of Mr. Tuttle, but acting was more of a side gig. Angeles was a practicing attorney. He worked in private practice as well as for studios like Columbia and Paramount. He died in 2009 "suddenly and peacefully following a brief hospitalization," per his obituary.

Robert Guillaume played intimidating ethics professor Dr. Hemmings in an episode of The College Years. He was one of the most recognizable names to grace the franchise, best known for Soap, its long-running hit spinoff Benson, Sports Night, and voicing Rafiki in The Lion King. He died of prostate cancer in 2017.