Saved By The Bell star Dustin Diamond dies at 44 amid Stage Four cancer battle

Dustin Diamond – best known for playing Samuel ‘Screech’ Powers on the hit NBC sitcom Saved by the Bell – has died following his short battle with stage four lung cancer. 

The 44-year-old actor died on Monday just three weeks after being diagnosed, his representative said. 

Diamond died with his girlfriend by his side. 

‘He was diagnosed with this brutal, relentless form of malignant cancer only three weeks ago. In that time, it managed to spread rapidly throughout his system; the only mercy it exhibited was its sharp and swift execution,’ the statement said.  

‘Dustin did not suffer. He did not have to lie submerged in pain. For that, we are grateful.’

Diamond was diagnosed with cancer after being hospitalized in Florida last month due to pain he was experiencing all over his body.  

He was officially diagnosed with stage four small cell carcinoma. 

His condition is believed to have deteriorated rapidly in the last week after going through his initial rounds of chemotherapy. 

A source told TMZ that he was taken off breathing machines to get him to hospice care. 

His hit show: On Saved By The Bell; (l-r) Mario Lopez as Alabert Clifford ‘A.C.’ Slater, Dennis Haskins as Mr. Richard Belding, Lark Voorhies as Lisa Turtle, Tiffani Thiessen as Kelly Kapowski, Elizabeth Berkley as Jessie Spano, Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Zachary ‘Zach’ Morris, Diamond as Screech Powers

Tough setback: Dustin’s hospitalization was reported on January 12, and just says later, a representative for the actor confirmed the news. His rep said: ‘At this time we can confirm that Dustin does have cancer’; seen in 2012

The good ole days: Thiessen, Gosselaar, Diamond and Lopez in 1996

Better days: In 2002, Diamond posed during Celebrity Boxing 2 Weigh-In at KTLA Studios in Hollywood

Another TV show: Diamond and Courtney Stodden on Celebrity Big Brother in Britain in 2013