Dustin Diamond — who famously played Screech on the popular ’90s show “Saved by the Bell” — has died from cancer, according to multiple reports. He was 44.
What happened
Diamond passed away after a battle with cancer, which he revealed back in December, according to CNN.
- His manager said Diamond’s health was in “serious” condition and he was going under testing in Florida. He also went through a round of chemotherapy, CNN reports.
Diamond was known for playing Samuel “Screech” Powers on “Saved by the Bell” for more than 10 years.
- “Saturday morning viewers watched Mr. Diamond grow up on the show as he played Screech, the sweet-natured, geeky underdog and the dunce among his friends. An ongoing plotline was the character’s unrequited crush on Lisa Turtle, who was played by Lark Voorhies,” according to The New York Times.
Diamond also served three months in jail for stabbing a man in a bar fight in Wisconsin back in 2014, according to the New York Daily News.
Life as a child star
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Diamond said on “Oprah: Where Are They Now?” that life as a childhood star can lead to problems in the future.
- “The hardest thing about being a child star is giving up your childhood,” he said. “You don’t get a childhood, really.”
- “I didn’t really know what I was going to do. It was hard to get work that wasn’t Screech-cloned stuff.”
- “I had been working for the last 10 years every single week, and I felt lost. As I mature I realize, wow, I was kind of going through my rebellious teens in my 20s.”