Lung Cancer Kills Dustin Diamond at Age 44

Sadly, Dustin Diamond, best known as Screech on Saved By The Bell, didn’t beat cancer. He passed away on Monday morning 2/1/2021 due to complications from stage 4 lung cancer.

We had hoped he would pull through, despite pondering where might have gotten sick (see: Dustin Diamond Wonders If He Got Cancer from Moldy Hotels).

Dustin’s team says they’re aware his name is not necessarily the most reputable due to his history of mishaps, but they want the public to understand “he was not intentionally malevolent.” His team adds 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.”

Dustin Diamond Dead at 44 After Battle with Stage 4 Lung Cancer

It’s too bad that Peacock’s reunion of Saved By The Bell could not have included at least a cameo role for Screech. He was in every other version of the TV series.

When they have these reunions and reboots all the more reason why it’s important to include everybody that they can. We never know just how long we’re going to live. Diamond was only 44 years old and, regardless any of his transgressions, he was way too young to pass on.

At least Diamond will be able to see and hear Eddie Van Halen’s eruption live in the afterlife. RIP.

Dustin Diamond Wonders If He Got Cancer from Moldy Hotels

Recently, we came across some sad news that Screech, Dustin Diamond, from Saved By The Bell Has Stage 4 Cancer. Apparently, now he thinks he might have gotten cancer from staying in rundown, moldy hotels.

The rep says Dustin’s worked all over the country on film sets and at comedy clubs for meet-and-greets … and sometimes had to stay in pretty questionable hotels and motels, because there were no other options.

We’re told Dustin believes some of these spots might have had mold or asbestos … which he could have breathed in, causing his cancer.

TMZ – Dustin Diamond Struggling With Cause Of Cancer … Moldy Hotels To Blame?

This made me immediately hit Google and search if mold can lead to cancer. According to WebMD, no, it cannot.

Mold can cause health problems, especially allergies and asthma. But you probably don’t have to worry about it leading to lung cancer. No research directly ties mold and lung cancer. In fact, it’s a pretty far stretch to find any connection at all.

Mold Danger: Can Mold Cause Lung Cancer?

Don’t wish cancer on anyone, and as stated previously, hope a cure can be found someday sooner than later. It doesn’t sound like mold, however, is a possible culprit. He never smoked, so that’s out too. More likely it’s hereditary.

Hope he beats it.

Screech, Dustin Diamond, from Saved By The Bell Has Stage 4 Cancer

When Peacock rebooted Saved By The Bell (the original show Kara was much more into than I) it was without the funny outcast, Screech, joining the gang.

Sadly, for Screech fans, it’s real life bad news for actor Dustin Diamond who played the goofy character, as various sources are reporting that he has stage 4 cancer and receiving treatment.

Reportedly, he had been in negotiation to appear in a season 2 of the reboot, should it have been greenlit. He’s going to need the money for treatment, according to the article linked below, because cancer treatments can cost upwards of $150,000/year.

With only a few hundred dollars left from his Saved by the Bell salary, Diamond threw himself into any projects he could score. That meant even doing a sex tape in 2006 and selling his t-shirt collection to save his home from foreclosure. He appeared in Celebrity Fit Club as the “bad guy” because it paid more. Diamond also published a book, “Behind the Bell,” in 2009 which drove a wedge between former cast members when they were painted in a negative light.

‘Saved by the Bell’: Does Dustin Diamond Have the Net Worth To Support Him During His New Health Crisis?

It’s both a blessing and a curse to be a young actor, playing an iconic TV role, getting typed, and then struggling to find acting work afterwards. On one hand, the fact that you ever are remembered for any part as an actor is a rare thing, but then to have it prevent you from being casted in future work is a bummer.

Whatever happened with Dustin Diamond’s acting career, cancer is the ultimate bummer. Someday maybe we’ll find a cure. I believe we will. In the meantime, here’s hoping Dustin Diamond survives this and maybe we’ll see him acting somewhere again.

A curious cancer-related sidenote is in the hit Netflix series Cobra Kai in season two Johnny revisits one of his old Cobra Kai pals who has cancer and they go out riding their motorcycles one last time. That actor really did have cancer and this was his last role before passing on. Sometimes real life and fantasy converge.

To end on a more positive note, and for fans of the reboot of Saved By The Bell? Season 2 has been greenlit.