| Dustin Diamond  AKA Dustin Neil Diamond
Born: 7-Jan-1977
Birthplace: San Jose, CA
Died: 1-Feb-2021
Location of death: Undetermined Location, FL
Cause of death: Cancer - Lung
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Actor Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Screech on Saved by the Bell Dustin Diamond was a promising child actor, with small roles in movies like Big Top Pee-wee with Paul Reubens, Purple People Eater with Peggy Lipton and Shelley Winters, and She's Out of Control with Tony Danza and Todd Bridges. His big break came in fifth grade, when he was cast as the nerdy Samuel "Screech" Powers on an off-network sitcom called Good Morning, Miss Bliss. The show, centered on Hayley Mills as a junior high school teacher, struggled for two years before being cancelled.
Then NBC signed several of the kids from the show, including Diamond's "Screech", promoted them to high school, and resurrected the show as Saved by the Bell. Scheduled on Saturday mornings, it was a hit with teenagers, and ran for four seasons before the network sent the cast to college -- and to prime time -- with Saved by the Bell: The College Years. Screech's College Years came to an end in less than one year, but Diamond was not finished playing the geeky Screech -- he went back to Saturday mornings, where NBC was airing Saved by the Bell: The New Class with a new cast of youngsters. Joining this new cast, Screech was now portrayed as a teacher, and this last incarnation of the show ran until 2000. So Diamond played Screech as a regular in four sitcoms, which might be a record.
Since his 13-year run as Screech ended, Diamond released an instructional video Dustin Diamond Teaches Chess, worked briefly as a professional wrestler, played bass for a struggling rock'n'roll band called Salty the Pocketknife, and toured as a rather raunchy stand-up comedian. In 2002, he defeated Ron Palillo, who played Horshak on Welcome Back, Kotter, for Fox's Celebrity Boxing. In 2004, he sued a parody website that made him the butt of jokes, but lost his case when the court ruled that nobody could take the website's satirical assertions seriously.
In the summer of 2006, Diamond went public with financial problems, appearing on The Howard Stern Show and in other media with the sad story that he was about to lose his home to foreclosure. He launched a website, pleading for fans to send him $15 for a T-shirt that read "I paid $15 to save Screech's house." Part of the website's pitch was, "Please buy a T-shirt. ... I really don't wanna do porn." It was later reported that numerous respondents to Diamond's plea never received their T-shirts.
In September of 2006, a porn distributor began selling sex videos that show Diamond engaging in anal sex and feces-play with women, and Diamond's manager said he hoped that the video would raise his client's profile and help resurrect his acting career. Diamond himself said the tape was never meant for distribution, and professed to be unsure how the video escaped his private collection. Within days, however, a deal was negotiated ensuring that Diamond would receive a percentage of the profits.
In the early morning of 26 December 2014, Diamond was arrested in Wisconsin after "accidentally" stabbing a man during a bar fight. For this he was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon and disorderly conduct, but acquitted of the more serious charge of reckless endangerment. The man he stabbed was not seriously injured. Father: Mark Diamond
Girlfriend: Candace Cameron (actress, dated mid-1990s)
Girlfriend: Jennifer Misner (dating, 2006)
Carrying a Concealed Weapon Port Washington, WI (arrested 26-Dec-2014; convicted)
Disorderly Conduct Port Washington, WI (arrested 26-Dec-2014; convicted)
Reckless Endangerment Port Washington, WI (arrested, 26-Dec-2014; acquitted)
Sex Tape Scandal Nov-2006 ("Screeched", with two women)
TELEVISION
Saved by the Bell: The New Class Screech Powers (1994-2000)
Saved by the Bell: The College Years Screech Powers (1993-94)
Saved by the Bell Screech Powers (1989-93)
Good Morning, Miss Bliss Screech Powers (1987-89)
FILMOGRAPHY AS DIRECTOR
Dustin Diamond Teaches Chess (22-Jan-2001)
FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
All Wifed Out (2012)
American Pie Presents: The Book of Love (1-Dec-2009)
Porndogs (12-Sep-2009) [VOICE]
Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (3-Sep-2003) · Himself
Pauly Shore Is Dead (2003) · Himself
Big Fat Liar (2-Feb-2002)
Jane White Is Sick & Twisted (27-Jan-2002) · Simone
Dustin Diamond Teaches Chess (22-Jan-2001) · Himself
Longshot (2000)
Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas (7-Oct-1994)
Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style (27-Nov-1992)
She's Out of Control (14-Apr-1989)
Purple People Eater (Dec-1988)
Big Top Pee-Wee (22-Jul-1988) · Child -- Deke
The Price of Life (1987)
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