Lark Voorhies

Lark Voorhies is a former child star best known for her role as "Lisa Turtle" on the early 1990s hit Saturday morning TV show, Saved by the Bell.

Lark was born on March 25, 1974 in Nashville, Tennessee. Her parents pushed her into acting as a young child. She first began acting at the age of two but was so shy that her mother postponed any acting until she was more comfortable doing so. By the time she was 11 years old, her mother began contacting different talent agencies and sent headshots of Lark. Three years later, in 1988, Lark appeared in two episodes of TV's "Small Wonder," alongside fellow washed up celebrities Jerry Supiran and Emily Schulman.

Her appearance on Small Wonder was so well-received that later in 1988 she was cast as Lisa Turtle, one of the co-stars in en ensemble cast in the Disney Channel's Good Morning, Miss Bliss, the precursor to Saved By The Bell. Lisa Turtle was a wealthy fashion-obsessed teen who was constantly hounded and harassed by über-dork "Screech Powers" (played by the greatest washed up celebrity of his generation, Dustin Diamond). The annoying Screech would frequently ask out Lisa Turtle who would, in turn, reject Screech and make jokes at his expense.

Good Morning, Miss Bliss was a failure on cable. However, NBC saw some potential in the show and purchased its rights, made some script changes, and repackaged the show as Saved by the Bell, a Saturday morning show that was a major hit among teenagers and pre-teens. On Saved by the Bell, the Lisa Turtle character was fairly popular with fans of the show. Although never as popular as Mark-Paul Gosselaar's "Zack Morris" or Tiffani Thiessen's "Kelly Kapowski," Lisa Turtle was definitely more popular than the annoying "Jessie Spano" and Screech Powers characters.

In nearly every episode for the first few seasons, Screech unsuccessfully hit on Lisa Turtle. The actor Dustin Diamond apparently has taken offense that his Screech character never got to hook up with Lisa Turtle and is a bit insecure about this.




Lark dated co-star Mark-Paul Gosselaar (and possibly also Mario Lopez) while Saved by the Bell was on the air. Although her character was hounded by Dustin Diamond's character during the show's run, she never dated Diamond off the set, presumably because of Diamond's undesirable looks and the fact that he was always hanging around with his buddy Dennis Haskins.

After Saved by the Bell ended in 1993, Lark struggled to get additional acting work. Lark was an attractive woman and seemed to be a fairly decent actress, so I have to assume that her problems are likely due to being typecast from her role on Saved by the Bell, which is still extremely popular in syndication.

Lark did manage to gain small non-recurring roles during the mid-1990s on TV shows such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Martin, Family Matters, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Lark was under contract during the mid-1990s for recurring roles on the soap operas Days of Our Lives and The Bold and the Beautiful, but later turned those roles down when she discovered that she would be shown in sex scenes, which would conflict with her religious beliefs as a Jehovah's Witness.

Since the mid-1990s Lark has appeared in minor roles in movie flops such as How High and Civil Brand during 2001 and 2002, respectively. Despite not having acted since 2002, she is scheduled to star in the apparently small-budget The Black Man's Guide to Understanding Black Women in 2008. She also owns a small production company and spends her spare time writing screenplays.

In her personal life, she was once engaged to Martin Lawrence. He tastelessly broke off the engagement without even bothering to tell her about it! She found out that the engagement was off when she saw him on the Arsenio Hall Show and he mentioned his engagement to a different woman.

Although Lark was undoubtedly devastated by this development, she did eventually get married in 1996 to a minor actor, Miguel Coleman. The two divorced in 2004. Lark recently got remarried to some guy named Andy Prince in 2007.

Lark has been hounded by rumors that she is a coke-head over the past few years. In 2005, the National Enquirer published a story that alleged that Lark was bipolar and addicted to cocaine. The story alleged that she had been admitted to a Southern California hospital in order to treat cocaine addiction after suffering a nervous breakdown, citing a "friend" of the TV star as the source of the info. Lark's supposed friend claimed, "Poor Lark, she's really in bad shape. She has a terrible drug problem and is bipolar as well. It’s very tough."

Lark was incensed when the National Enquirer article was published and denied all of the claims in the article. In 2006, she sued the National Enquirer for misappropriation, invasion of privacy, and libel, claiming that the story was false and had damaged her career. Her case was eventually dropped a couple months later when a settlement was apparently reached.

Given her stalled acting career, the drug allegations, and the fact that Martin Lawrence broke off his engagement to her on national TV, there can be no doubt that Lark Voorhies is one washed-up celebrity!

 **** Update - May 13, 2012 **** 

Lark Voorhies was recently interviewed by The Yo Show on Yahoo!. She claims to have written and produced a new low-budget movie. She also discussed her experience on Saved By The Bell. Viewers of this clip have been shocked by Lark Voorhies' appearance. Her face looks entirely different and her skin is lighter - she currently bears a strong resemblance the Joker from the Batman movies! 
 

Leanna Creel

Leanna Creel is an actress and film producer best known for her role as Tori Scott on the early 1990s haven for washed up celebrities, Saved By The Bell.

Creel is an identical triplet with sisters Monica and Joy. Creel was born on August 27, 1970 in Los Angeles, California and started acting in the late 1980s. Her first acting role was as a guest star on Growing Pains in 1987. In 1989 she got her big break when she and her triplet sisters acted in the made-for-TV movie, Parent Trap III. After the success of Parent Trap III, Creel acted in Parent Trap: Hawaiian Honeymoon and also managed to secure small non-recurring roles on several TV shows, such as Parker Lewis Can't Lose and Beverly Hills, 90210.

In 1992 she was cast in her most memorable role as Tori Scott on the hit Saturday morning TV show, Saved By The Bell. The Tori character only appeared in about 12 episodes during the final season of the show (1992-1993).


The episodes in which the Tori character appeared were filmed after the rest of the final season's episodes (including the original series finale Graduation episode). Apparently the producers needed to film 100 episodes of the show so that they could sell it in syndication and garner huge licensing fees. Elizabeth Berkley (Jessie Spano) and Tiffani Amber Thiessen (Kelly Kapowski) decided not to renew their contracts for these additional episodes, leaving the shows' producers in a bind. The Tori Scott character was brought on board to take the place of Jessie and Kelly for the final episodes.

The Tori Scott character was a tough no-nonsense biker chick. She came across as gruff when she made her initial appearance, but quickly showed her softer side as she got the hots for Zack Morris (played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar). The Tori Scott character was fairly unpopular among Saved By The Bell fans. However, I actually liked her. I thought she was pretty hot and much more likable (and less annoying) than the Jessie Spano character.

After Saved By The Bell ended, Creel's acting roles quickly dried up. Since the early 1990s, she has only had small bit roles in a couple TV shows such as One West Waikiki and Ned and Stacey and in movies such as Freeway and The Cell. The Cell was a popular movie, but Creel was only in it for a couple seconds and she isn't even recognizable in her role as "Mother."

With the acting roles gone, Creel transitioned over to directing. She produced her first film in 1994, helping out a friend whose producer had been involved in a car accident. She also worked for the Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX) and in 1998 she and HSX's Michael Burns founded film production company Ignite Entertainment. Creel resigned in 1999 to start Anomaly Productions. She also currently runs her own photography business, Creel Photo.

Creel has produced an award-winning lesbian-themed movie. (I wonder if hanging around with the annoying Dustin Diamond on the Saved By The Bell set turned her off men for good.) She produced "Prom-troversy," a comedy short about a lesbian's life at an all-straight high school. "Prom-troversy" took the top honors in the 2005 edition of the PlanetOut Short Movie Awards.

The 14 years since Saved By The Bell went off the air have not been kind to Creel. She was a beautiful and sultry young woman with long curly hair as Tori Scott in 1993. However, her looks have quickly faded and as one can clearly see in the photo below, she has apparently morphed into a man with a short boy's haircut:

For this and the other reasons discussed above, Leanna Creel is one washed-up celebrity!

Jack Angeles

Jack Angeles is an actor best known for his role as Mr. Tuttle, a high school teacher, on Saved By The Bell. Angeles was born in Albany New York and attended Holy Cross College. After college, he studied law and earned his J.D. from the prestigious New York University. Angeles initially planned on pursuing a career as a Wall Street attorney. However, after graduation he visited a friend and former NYU classmate who was practicing Entertainment Law in Los Angeles at the time. The sister of that friend was a casting director who helped convince Jack Angeles to move to Los Angeles. Jack Angeles spent his first two years in Los Angeles working a talent agent representing various actors and actresses. He took the California Bar Exam and after passing and being admitted to the California Bar, worked as a production attorney for Columbia Pictures Television and then eventually transitioned over to acting.

Angeles has had small roles in various TV shows and movies, including Falcon Crest, Growing Pains, Mousehunt, as well as a substantial role in the 1993 TV movie, Rubdown. Despite having numerous acting roles, there can be no doubt that Angeles is best known for his role as the morbidly obese Mr. Tuttle on Saved By The Bell.

Mr. Tuttle taught several classes, including Driver's Ed, and was also an advisor to the Glee Club. The Driver's Education episode of Saved By The Bell was particularly memorable because for some unexplained reason, Mr. Tuttle taught Driver's Ed with a golf cart in the middle of a Bayside High School classroom. Even more unusual was the fact that the golf cart only had three wheels!



The Tuttle character was an incredibly underutilized asset on Saved By The Bell. Mr. Tuttle was only used in maybe 5 episodes, but generally stole the scenes in which he appeared. In the Driver's Education episode, he utter the memorable line to A.C. Slater, "Pushy, pushy, move your tushy!"

Tuttle was close to the students at Bayside and occasionally schemed with both the students and with Principal Belding (played by fellow washed-up actor Dennis Haskins).

Unfortunately, the acting roles dried up for Jack Angeles after the original run of Saved By The Bell ended. Although Angeles did have a substantial role in Rubdown, it is clear that his acting career is over. Although I thought he was great as Mr. Tuttle on Saved By The Bell, it is obvious that Jack Angeles is one washed up celebrity!



***Update - May 10, 2009***

I am sad to report that Jack Angeles passed away suddenly and peacefully following a recent brief hospitalization. All kidding aside, Jack's "Mr. Tuttle" character was one of the most memorable on Saved By The Bell and brought joy to fans of the show. He will be missed.

Jack's birthname was "John J. Cangilos." Jack was the American Legion Oratorical champion when he was 18 and gave a speech at the Republican National Convention in 1968! His speech was broadcast live on television. Those are certainly impressive accomplishments for someone who was only 18 years old at the time. Here is a picture of a young Jack Angeles:

Dustin Diamond – The Early Years

Dustin Diamond is the epitome of the term “washed-up celebrity.” He rose from obscurity to become a child star on a the Saturday morning TV high school sitcom, Saved By The Bell, despite a complete lack of good looks, charisma, acting ability, or comedic talent.

Diamond played the character "Screech" on the Good Morning: Miss Bliss, Saved By The Bell, Saved By The Bell: The College Years, and Saved By The Bell: the New Class, becoming more of a caricature and joke with each passing season. One would think that Diamond would be proud of all he accomplished as a child actor and would now be living the high life off all of the money he made on the various Saved By The Bell shows. Shockingly, that is not the case, as Diamond has managed to piss all of his money away and become nothing more than a pathetic joke to the millions of people who grew up watching Saved By The Bell.

This entry is a long one, as Diamond has done many, many things worthy of derision during his train-wreck of a career. So I have broken it into two posts. This first post covers Diamond’s life up through 2000, when Saved By The Bell: the New Class went off the air.


I. The Good Morning: Miss Bliss Years (1987-1989)

Diamond was originally cast as Screech on Good Morning: Miss Bliss, a show that ran on the Disney Channel from 1987-1989. Screech was an annoying and dorky kid in an Indianapolis, Indiana junior high school who was somehow friends with Zack Morris, his much more popular classmate. Although Screech would occasionally do dumb things during on the show, he was a normal, albeit weird, kid and he was practically a genius in the classroom, always doing well in his classes. His nickname “Screech” was given to him because he had a tendency to speak in a high-pitched voice that was supposed to be funny (even though it wasn’t).














II. The Saved By The Bell Years (1989-1993)

Good Morning: Miss Bliss was cancelled in 1989 and was repackaged as Saved By The Bell, a Saturday morning high school comedy/drama. The show’s location was moved from Indianapolis to Los Angeles, California, and several new characters were added, including A.C. Slater, a jock with a permed mullet (played by Mario Lopez), Kelly Kapowski (the head cheerleader), and Jessie Spano (the studious and annoying girlfriend of Slater and a champion of left-wing causes). Screech was friends with all of the main characters of Saved By The Bell, and Zack Morris continued to be his best friend. However, the writers were running out of ideas for the Screech character, so they turned him into a comic foil for the other characters. However, the writing was not very good - instead of actually providing laughs, Screech became a character that served to do nothing more than annoy the other characters and do dumb things.














Although he did do dumb things, he somehow managed to invent and build a robot whom he called “Kevin.” Kevin was one of Screech’s best friends and they actually competed together in a talent contest as magicians, as shown below. Unfortunately, Kevin was killed off after a few episodes.

Although Screech was an annoying turd, the cool kids at Bayside were friends with him. Screech also dressed like a complete idiot, wearing colorful and fruity Zubaz pants to class. Screech would occasionally get picked on, but eventually got his act together enough to get a girlfriend, Violet, who was one of the school nerds. Screech graduated at the top of his class and had a good relationship with the Bayside principal, Mr. Belding.

III. The Saved By The Bell: The College Years (1993-1994)

Screech attended California University with Zack, Slater, and Kelly on Saved By The Bell: The College Years. This was an awkward time, as Screech was going through puberty and was becoming uglier and more annoying every day. Screech continued to use his high-pitched “Screech” voice even though his voice was becoming deeper. The College Years was cancelled after a year due to low ratings.














IV. The Saved By The Bell: The New Class Years (1994-2000)

Saved By The Bell: The New Class was created to chronicle the students at Bayside after Screech, Zack, and Slater graduated in 1993. The first season did not do well, and producers decided that drastic changes were necessary. To save the show, the producers brought back Screech. Screech’s role on the New Class was as Mr. Belding’s assistant through some kind of college internship.

At the beginning of the New Class, Screech was the same annoying character he was on the College Years and near the end of the original Saved By The Bell show. The writers decided to mix things up a bit, so they gave Screech the catch-phrase “Zoinks” that Screech would often yell out whenever he screwed something up.

Unfortunately, the writers quickly ran out of ideas for the New Class. To keep the show interesting, Screech and Mr. Belding became close friends over time. I’m not sure whether it was intentional, but it certainly seemed as though Screech and Mr. Belding eventually became gay lovers. If you don’t believe me, take a look at these photos of Screech and Belding from several New Class episodes. Why else would Screech oil up Belding at a country club or ride a tandem bike with him unless they were lovers?

Screech also grew a huge Jewish afro (a.k.a., a “Jew-fro”) during several of the seasons. It’s unclear as to whether the Jew-fro was supposed to be funny, but I know that I certainly thought it was. Seriously, look at Screech in the photos below. Does he look like an idiot or what?















Dustin Diamond kept reprising the Screech role until Saved By The Bell: The New Class was finally cancelled in 2000. After the show ended, Dustin Diamond’s career quickly spiraled downward in a spectacular collapse, as is discussed in the next post, Dustin Diamond (2000 - present).

*See also Dustin Diamond (2007 Celebrity Fit Club Appearance) and Dustin Diamond - (2008 Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp Appearance)

Dennis Haskins

Dennis Haskins played "Mr. Belding" on the TV shows "Good Morning Miss Bliss," "Saved By The Bell," and "Saved By The Bell: The New Class" between 1987 and 2000. Here's a picture of Dennis Haskins from his early days on Saved By The Bell:

When Saved By The Bell went off the air in 2000 Haskins struggled to find acting work and he undoubtedly felt pigeon-holed in his role as Mr. Belding. In an attempt to change his image Haskins grew a mustache as shown in this picture from 2000 or 2001:

Haskins eventually shaved his mustache and became a party animal trying to pick up college-age women at bars. He currently enjoys life and eats every piece of greasy and fatty food in sight as shown in the pictures below. As you can clearly see, Haskins is definitely a washed-up actor!





*** Update - March 24, 2008 ***

TMZ.com recently posted some pictures of Dennis Haskins partying in Las Vegas with women who appear to be strippers. Apparently Haskins is still a huge (literally) party animal!



*** Update - May 21, 2009 ***

I recently discovered that one of Dennis Haskins' first TV roles was on The Dukes of Hazzard. Haskins made a minor appearance in the very first episode of that popular series back in 1979. Here are some screen captures of Haskins from the episode, "One Armed Bandits," where Haskins played an annoying truck driver who sexually harassed Daisy Duke at a bar. Amazingly, Haskins was only 27 or 28 when this scene was filmed, although I think he could have passed for mid-30s.





*** Update - May 18, 2010 ***

I received an email that is purportedly from either Dennis Haskins or one of his operatives. Apparently Haskins is under the impression that I have claimed he has been arrested. I have never written (now or in the past) that Dennis Haskins was arrested for anything and as far as I know he is a law-abiding citizen! This is the email I received:

Dennis Haskins (dennis.haskins1@gmail.com)
to -------
date Mon, May 17, 2010 at 12:08 PM
subject Dennis Haskins article

May 17 (2 days ago)

To whom it may concern,

While searching Google for Dennis Haskins the phrase Dennis Haskins arrested appears and connects to your web site. Mr. Haskins has never been arrested for anything. This is not true and falls into the legal category of slander. This should be removed within 24 hours or legal action will be taken against you, your site and Google. We've taken note that you've adjusted your article to say allegedly but this does not change the way you have tied it into the Google search and does not prevent you from being pursued legally. You have 24 hours as of 10:08am pst

I just lost a lot of respect for Dennis Haskins. I assume that this email was sent to authors who publish different websites. Note that he claims that I "adjusted [the] article to say allegedly." However, the only place where the word "allegedly" appears on this post is in the email above and in this sentence!

*** Update - May 19, 2010 ***

As far as I can tell, Dennis Haskins is apparently upset about this comment left by an anonymous person below (FYI, I did not post this comment and have no way of determining who wrote it):

Anonymous said...

If you yahoo search "Mr belding young women" or go to tmz.com, he apparently has been arrested many times for groping women. Bronson Pinchot is his "party friend".
August 01, 2009 1:02 PM

Because I am still a fan of Saved By The Bell and Mr. Belding, I have deleted this comment from below, although I am still annoyed with him for threatening his fans! I hope that Dennis Haskins chills out in the future and starts appreciating his fans again. He might consider appearing on Celebrity Fit Club with pal Dustin Diamond to try to restart his career. However, I must confess that I am beginning to wonder whether his "nice guy" public persona is all just a ruse...

There is nothing defamatory about this post now and there never has been anything defamatory in the past. However, the fact that Haskins spends his day sending threatening emails despite failing to understand that "slander" refers exclusively to spoken defamation further proves that he is one washed-up celebrity!

*** Update - February 5, 2015 ***

Jimmy Fallon performed in a Saved By The Bell skit on the Tonight Show on February 4, 2015 alongside original cast-members Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Mario Lopez, Tiffani Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley, and Dennis Haskins.  (There was no explanation regarding the absense of Lark Voorhies or the despised Dustin Diamond.)  Unfortunately I am unable to embed the video, but it can be viewed here.  The skit was very well-received and quickly became a trending topic on Twitter.  It was shocking to see Dennis Haksins in the skit, as he apparently progressed from simply being "really fat" all the way to his current status of "morbidly obese."