Dustin Diamond, the American television actor who played Screech in the sit-com franchise Saved by the Bell, died of lung cancer on Monday. He was 44.
The actor was diagnosed with the disease three weeks ago and was admitted to a hospital in Florida where he died.
“In that time, it managed to spread rapidly throughout his system; the only mercy it exhibited was its sharp and swift execution. Dustin did not suffer. He did not have to lie submerged in pain. For that, we are grateful,” the late actor’s manager Roger Paul said in a statement.
Diamond got his big break in Good Morning, Miss Bliss, the first season in the Saved by the Bell series that aired from 1988 to 1989 in which he portrayed the role of the geek Samuel “Screech” Powers in 13 episodes. The four-season series went on till 1993, after which it was revived with its spin-off series, Saved by the Bell: The College Years, from 1993 to 1994, and Saved by the Bell: The New Class, which started the same year and went on till 2000.
Prior to Screech becoming a household name in 1987, Diamond made an appearance in an episode each of the television film Yogi’s Great Escape and It’s a Living.
The late actor appeared on a variety of shows such as Celebrity Fit Club, The Weakest Link, and Celebrity Boxing 2. He also made cameo appearances in films like Made, Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, American Pie Presents: The Book of Love, and others.
In 2006, he featured in an infamous sex tape titled Screeched: Saved by the Smell. However, the late actor later agreed on Oprah Winfrey’s show Where are they Now? in 2013 that he was “embarassed” and that it was his “stupidity” that made him do it, although he did clarify that he had used a stunt double and was not a part of the video. He said, “I definitely got some money off of it but it wasn’t worth what the fall out was.”
Diamond had also shared that after Screech, he was unable to get work “that wasn’t Screech kind of stuff,” adding, “As I matured I realised, wow, I was kind of going through my rebellious teens in my twenties.” He had played Screech on-screen for 12 years.
In 2014, he was arrested for stabbing a man during a bar fight. He was arrested again in 2016 for violating the terms of his probation.
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“We are aware that Dustin is not considered reputable by most. He’s had a history of mishaps, of unfortunate events. We want the public to understand that he was not intentionally malevolent,” Paul said.
“He — much like the rest of those who act out and behave poorly — had undergone a great deal of turmoil and heartache. His actions, though rebukeable, stemmed from loss and the lack of knowledge on how to process that pain properly. In actuality, Dustin was a humorous and high-spirited individual whose greatest passion was to make others laugh. He was able to sense and feel other peoples’ emotions to such a length that he was able to feel them too — a strength and a flaw, all in one,” Paul added.
He was married to Jennifer Wisner in 2009 and the two separated in 2013.