Saved by the Bell, Franklin & Bash
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"I always have this feeling that I'm losing everything, so I'm a real saver." Mark-Paul Gosselaar rose to fame as the suave Zack Morris on Saved by the Bell. As one of the most famous television characters of his era, Gosselaar has worked hard in order to separate his career from his performance in the hit '90s high-school sitcom.
In the intervening years since his star-turning role in Saved by the Bell, Gosselaar has scored several high-profile television roles, including starring work in NYPD Blue and Franklin & Bash. Now in his mid-40s, Gosselaar has turned into a multi-talented performer far beyond what fans might have expected from the former teen idol.
Born in Los Angeles
Mark-Paul Gosselaar was born on March 1, 1974, in Los Angeles. Gosselaar's parents were Paula and Hans Gosselaar. Hans worked as a plant supervisor for the famous brewing company, Anheuser-Busch. Paula was a homemaker as well as a hostess for KLM. Gosselaar has German, Dutch, and Jewish ancestry. His great parents, Hester and Hertog Gosselaar, lost their lives during the Holocaust while trapped at the Sobibor extermination camp.
Gosselaar began his career in entertainment at the young age of five. After working as a child model, Gosselaar would appear in a string of commercials for Oreo and Smurf products. During his teenage years, Gosselaar attended school in the Santa Clarita Valley at Hart High School. While Gosselaar made his television debut at just 12-years-old, he wouldn't find his footing until scoring the leading role in the 1988 television series, Good Morning, Miss Bliss as Zack Morris, his character in the future Saved by the Bell series.
Prolific Television Career
For Mark-Paul Gosselaar, finding his footing in the television world was almost too easy. He began working in entertainment at just ten-years-old with an appearance in the short film, Donald's Fire Survival Plan (1984). Gosselaar would follow that project with appearances on The New Twilight Zone (1986), Stingray (1986), and Highway to Heaven (1986). With a range of characters under his belt as a child, it wouldn't be long until Gosselaar was working on bigger and better projects.
After appearing on The Wonder Years, Punky Brewster, and Charles in Charge, all in 1988, Gosselaar would land the lead role in the series, Good Morning, Miss Bliss. This short-lived series ran on the Disney Channel under the auspices of what would later become Saved by the Bell. While Miss Bliss only ran for a single season, Disney Channel executives would see serious potential in Mark-Paul as a leading man. As a result, his character would be brought forward into the 1989 series, Saved by the Bell.
As Zack Morris, Gosselaar would become an overnight sensation. While Gosselaar never ascended to the A-List status that his early years would have suggested, Saved by the Bell was still one of the biggest sitcoms on television. Gosselaar would reprise his role as Zack Morris in a variety of productions, including Saved by the Bell: The College Years (1994), Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style (1992), Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas, and lastly in Saved by the Bell: The New Class (1994).
While Gosselaar found tremendous success in his early years as a television star, Gosselaar would undergo a protracted dry spell following the ending of Saved by the Bell. Gosselaar would appear in the made-for-TV movie, She Cried No, in 1996. He would follow that dark performance up with an appearance in Dead Man on Campus (1998). Eventually, Gosselaar would try his hand at television again with a pair of leading roles in Hyperion Bay (1998) and D.C. (2000). Both productions were canceled in relatively short order.
In 2001, Gosselaar finally found his way back on set for a solid job with his role in NYPD Blue (2001). In NYPD Blue, Gosselaar returned to his TV roots as Detective John Clark Jr. The series would premier on ABC and run for five full seasons. After the series ended, Gosselaar would leap right into Commander in Chief as the starring character, Richard McDonald. Again, the series would only last a single season.
When 2011 rolled around, Gosselaar would land the biggest role of his post-Bell career, Peter Bash in Franklin & Bash. The TNT series would premier on June 1, 2011, before becoming a hit for the network. Franklin & Bash would run for five seasons, garnering critical and commercial acclaim along the way.
Most recently, Gosselaar was cast in the lead role on the series Mixed-ish (2019). Mixed-ish will be riffing off of the hit ABC series, Black-ish. Originally, the lead role in the series was going to be played by Anders Holm of Workaholics fame. Holm appeared in the pilot of the series before Gosselaar replaced him. Gosselaar also appeared as the lead in The Passage (2019) and Pitch (2016).
Life outside of acting has been kept relatively under wraps for Gosselaar. He has famously dated Lark Voorhies, Elizabeth Berkley, and Tiffani Thiessen. Gosselaar is reportedly still very close to his Saved by the Bell co-stars. In 1996, Gosselaar would marry Lisa Ann Russell and together they would have two children, Michael Charles and Ava Lorenn. The couple would call it quits in 2010 as they sought a divorce. Gosselaar would go on to marry Catriona McGinn in 2011, and they have two children together, Dekker and Lachlyn.
When Gosselaar has downtime, he loves to race cars. Gosselaar is an extreme athlete who spends his time flying, riding a dirt bike, racing cars, and even competing in track cycling. Gosselaar would win the Category 4/5 Sprint Championship in track cycling at the Encino Velodrome.
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