The actor had a difficult life following his role on the '90s sitcom. Photo / Supplied
The actor had a difficult life following his role on the '90s sitcom. Photo / Supplied
Tributes are flooding in for Dustin Diamond, the 44-year-old former child star who died of lung cancer after being diagnosed just three weeks ago.
Many of the heartfelt messages have come from his castmates on Saved by the Bell, in which he played the beloved goofy character Screech. But while it may be his best-known role, the actor had a chequered history with the show, and a difficult life following his time as a '90s icon.
Diamond's team announced via Facebook that he died on Monday morning, local time. It is understood he was being treated in a hospital in Florida.
"We are saddened to confirm of Dustin Diamond's passing on Monday, February 1st, 2021 due to carcinoma," Diamond's official social media page read.
"He was diagnosed with this brutal, relentless form of malignant cancer only three weeks ago.
"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."
Diamond is most famous for playing Samuel "Screech" Powers on four seasons of NBC sitcom Saved By The Bell, which first aired in 1989.
Here, we look back at his life post-Saved by the Bell:
When the show was rebooted last year, Diamond – who played the group's token nerd friend Screech – was notably missing from the returning gang.
He was the only one of the six core cast members who was not confirmed to appear in some capacity in the revival, likely due to his complicated history with the show.
While most of the Bell cast went on to have successful careers like Mario Lopez and Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Diamond, who played Screech on the long-running sitcom, did not have an easy time.
Over the years, he released a sex tape (which he later revealed wasn't actually him) and a book that painted an unflattering portrait of his colleagues that he similarly back-pedalled on.
Speaking to Oprah's Where are they now? in 2013, Diamond – who starred in the show's predecessor Good Morning, Miss Bliss, and also appeared in the show's spin-offs – said he "felt lost" when, at 23 years of age, his role as Screech came to an end.
"I wanted a year or two off just to myself because I felt like I'd earned it," Diamond said.
"You know I'd been working for the last 10 years every single week."
The actor had a difficult life following his role on the '90s sitcom. Photo / Supplied
Sex tape scandal
In 2006 he found himself desperate for a quick buck, so he decided to release his own sex tape.
"My buddy was at my house and the rumour was that Paris Hilton made $14 million off her sex tape," Diamond explained to Oprah.
"And my buddy said, '$14 million, holy smokes. Where is the Screech sex tape? You've got to be worth at least a million.' And I thought, 'Yeah, maybe.'
"In my stupidity I thought, 'I could totally fake this. I could get a stunt person to take my place, it's my face but nothing else.' Looking back now in my thirties I realise that was really dumb."
The actor said he made some money out of the tape, but it wasn't worth the fallout.
Tell-all book
Three years later in 2009 Diamond released a tell-all book about what really went on behind the scenes of Saved by the Bell.
The novel, Behind the Bell, sparked controversy when it revealed the young cast dabbled in drugs and sex, but Diamond maintains he hardly wrote any of it.
"I was a first-time author so they had a ghostwriter," Diamond said.
"I talked to a guy a few times so the book has some truth in it and a lot of the stories were just throwaways. I expected I was going to be sent a copy to proofread and OK … and I was sent the copy and they said 'This is done.'"
The most alarming claim in the pages of the finished product was that Mario Lopez had date-raped a woman and that US network NBC paid her to keep quiet.
It also claimed Tiffani Amber Thiessen was seeing both Mario Lopez and Mark Paul Gosselaar at the same time, and that the cast would often smoke marijuana during filming.
Reaction from co-stars
Understandably, Diamond's former Saved by the Bell co-stars weren't thrilled by the claims.
Shortly after its release, Mark-Paul Gosselaar said to The Huffington Post: "Everything I've heard about his book is that it is negative, and I don't remember those things because my experience on the show was very positive."
Gosselaar (who played Screech's buddy Zack Morris) later went on to reveal on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen that he and his former Saved by the Bell co-star hadn't spoken in more than two decades.
In 2019, when the late-night show's host asked how long it had been since he'd last spoken to Screech, the star responded, "1994."
"That's funny," said 52-year-old Cohen, as Gosselaar added, "It's the truth! I mean, I'm not making anything up."
In 2016, producer Peter Engel penned a book called I Was Saved by the Bell: Stories of Life, Love and Dreams That Do Come True.
During press runs for the release, he had only supportive words for Diamond.
Deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Dustin Diamond, a true comedic genius. My sincere condolences to his family and friends. Looking back at our time working together, I will miss those raw, brilliant sparks that only he was able to produce. A pie in your face, my comrade.
"I never had a moment's problems with Dustin," he told naughtygossip.com.
"I feel terrible for Dustin because he was an icon and for whatever reason things happen. It happens to everyday people and it happens to people who are actors and Dustin made some bad choices."
"He wrote some terrible things about me," he continued. "Desperate people do desperate things. I feel badly for him. I thought he could have had a wonderful career."
Diamond came face-to-face with another former co-star – the man who had been at the centre of the book's most damaging claim – Mario Lopez, on an episode of Extra in 2016.
Lopez, who played AC Slater, asked his former colleague about his reasons for writing the book.
"The book didn't exactly paint a flattering picture of your fellow castmates," Lopez told Diamond.
"I wanted to write a book about my life … I was supposed to talk to a ghostwriter for 40 hours total. I talked to a guy for 90 minutes total … another two weeks go by, and I get something in the mail, I get a copy of the book … They fabricated a whole bunch of stuff … I kind of super railroaded on that," he said.
"Imagine how I feel, I haven't talked to Marc Paul or Elizabeth or Tiffani in ages, so I can't imagine what they think, and I'm hoping this will clear it up. It wasn't me, I didn't write this. I was just as shocked and appalled."
Appearing on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen last year, Elizabeth Berkley, 48, who played Jessie Spano and will star in the reboot, said there was no bad blood between the pair.
"I don't know if he will make an appearance," she told host Andy Cohen of whether he'd appear in the new show.
"We'll see if there's another season, maybe it's something to explore."
The actress noted that she hasn't been in contact with Diamond, 43, since the original Saved by the Bell wrapped in 1993.
"I haven't talked to him in a long time – I think since we finished the show is the last time I actually spoke to him," Berkley said.
"But not because of anything bad, I mean, he was always nice to me and he's had his journey but really I've kept more in touch with Mark-Paul, Tiffani, Mario and then, from time to time, Lark."
In 2014, he was arrested in Wisconsin for possession of a switchblade knife, which he was alleged to have pulled during a bar fight in which a man was stabbed.
He was convicted of two misdemeanours and sentenced to four months in prison. He served three and was released on probation.
However, his probation officer determined he had broken the terms of his probation and Diamond was again arrested in May 2016.
"It's pretty daunting, it's pretty scary going into that environment," he later told Mario Lopez on Extra of the arrest.
"I found that as long as you follow the rules and stay with the system, it works. You can get in and out unscathed."
Diamond said he and his fiancee, Amanda Schutz, were celebrating Christmas when he was asked to pose for a photo.
"One of the girl's friends (that Amanda) was talking to sucker-punched my fiance … she leaned back to me and her face was covered in blood," he said. "I opened my pocket knife and said, 'Let my wife go immediately,' which worked," he described of the altercation.
On not appearing on the reboot
In February last year, Diamond spoke to TMZ about his Saved by the Bell character not appearing in the reboot, expressing disappointment that he wasn't approached.
"It's something we put so much time and effort into," he said at the time.
"How do you have Saved by the Bell without Screech? Right? I mean, it seems like there's a missed opportunity there."
Flood of tributes
Despite his difficult relationship with the show, Diamond's Saved by the Bell co-stars have paid tribute to the actor on social media today.
"Dustin, you will be missed my man," Mario Lopez wrote on Twitter. "The fragility of this life is something never to be taken for granted. Prayers for your family will continue on."
Calling Diamond a "true comedic genius," Mark-Paul Gosselaar added, "My sincere condolences to his family and friends," before continuing, "Looking back at our time working together, I will miss those raw, brilliant sparks that only he was able to produce. A pie in your face, my comrade."
Tiffani Thiessen also memorialised Diamond on her Instagram page, writing, "I am deeply saddened by the news of my old co-star @realdustindiamond passing. Life is extremely fragile and it's something we should never take for granted. God speed Dustin."
