‘Saved By the Bell’s Dustin Diamond Diagnosed With Stage 4 Cancer
A ’90s TV icon has been diagnosed with cancer. Dustin Diamond, best known as “Screech” Powers on Saved By the Bell and later its spinoff shows Saved By the Bell: The College Years and Saved By the Bell: The New Class, was hospitalized over the weekend after feeling pain all over his body and discovering a lump in his throat. TMZ now reports that he’s being treated for stage 4 cancer.
TMZ’s article quotes from Diamond’s publicist, and says he has “cancer throughout his body” and is “currently getting his first round of chemotherapy” in addition to suffering from a bout of shingles. Diamond is only 44 years old.
Diamond holds the distinction of appearing in nearly all of the various iterations of Saved By the Bell. He was one of the original cast members of Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which was retooled after one season into Saved By the Bell. On the main show, he was the goofy, lovable dork of the cast, famous for his outrageous outfits, exaggerated expressions, and endless pining for Lisa Turtle.Along with Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Mario Lopez, and Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, he continued on into Saved By the Bell: The College Years, and when that show was canceled after a single season, he went back to Bayside and became Mr. Belding’s assistant on Seasons 2 through 7 of Saved By the Bell: The New Class. Diamond is one of only two original cast members, along with Dennis “Mr. Belding” Haskins, who did not appear in the first season of the new Saved By the Bell revival on Peacock.
Things have not always been easy for Diamond since Saved By the Bell ended. He filed for bankruptcy in 2001, and got into trouble with the law in 2014 due to his involvement in an altercation in a bar; he ultimately served three months in prison as a result. Things sound even tougher right now, and we wish him the speediest of recoveries.
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