Actor Dustin Diamond – Dead at 44

It has been reported that actor Dustin Diamond, best known for playing the lovable Samuel “Screech” Powers on the hit NBC sitcom, “Saved by the Bell”, has lost his battle to cancer and has passed away. The actor was 44 years old.

The news comes from Diamond’s representative, saying that he died Monday morning, February 1st. His condition had greatly declined since last week, and he was taken off of breathing machines in an attempt to get him to hospice care.

Dustin’s death comes just a couple weeks after completing his first round of chemo after he was diagnosed with stage 4 small cell carcinoma, a lung cancer. It has been reported that the cancer started elsewhere in Dustin’s body and metastasized in his lungs.

Representatives for the actor say that he went through a great deal of turmoil in his life, but he was always “a humorous and high-spirited individual whose greatest passion was to make others laugh.” It was noted that Dustin’s girlfriend was by his side when he passed away, and that he did not suffer.

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Photo Credit: Rob DiCaterino [cc2.0]