From The Tribune staff reports
“Saved by the Bell” star Dustin Diamond died Monday, three weeks after being diagnosed with cancer. He was 44.
Diamond, best known for playing Screech on the hit ’90s sitcom, was hospitalized last month in Florida and his team disclosed later that he had cancer.
Saved by the Bell aired from 1989 to 1993, and its spinoffs included Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Good Morning, Miss Bell and Saved by the Bell: The New Class, which Diamond starred in. A sequel was launched on Peacock last fall featuring many from the original cast, including Elizabeth Berkley, Mario Lopez, Tiffani Thiessen and Mark-Paul Gosselaar.
“Dustin was a humorous and high-spirited individual whose greatest passion was to make others laugh,” wrote his spokesperson, Roger Paul. “He was able to sense and feel other peoples’ emotions to such a length that he was able to feel them too — a strength and a flaw, all in one.”