Dustin Diamond ignored a ‘huge lump’ on his neck before he died of cancer, according to a new report.
The Saved By The Bell star, 44, passed away in Florida on Monday, just three weeks after being diagnosed with stage 4 small cell lung cancer.
Diamond’s girlfriend, Tash Jules, was at his side when he died – and it was she who insisted that he have the big lump examined last month.
“He was feeling bad and he had a lump on his neck that he was ignoring,” Diamond’s manager Roger Paul told People on Tuesday.
“He was afraid of the public’s attention if he went to the hospital. But finally, his girlfriend took him and the doctors confirmed it was cancer.
Dustin Diamond ignored a ‘huge lump’ on his neck before he died of cancer, according to new reports. The Saved By The Bell star, 44, passed away in Florida on Monday, just three weeks after being diagnosed with stage 4 small cell lung cancer. He is pictured in 2016
Diamond didn’t share any photos of the lump on social media and the actor’s last image was a selfie that showed him in his hospital bed before he passed away
The California-born actor was first cast as the adorable geek Sam ‘Screech’ Powers in 1988, when he was just 11 years old. The actor spent decades trying to escape the role that made him famous
Paul’s comments echo what Diamond’s friend Dan Block told The Sun last month after the show’s star was diagnosed with cancer.
“It started out as a tumor on his neck – a huge lump in his throat – and it was very visible,” Block told the tabloid.
‘He was afraid of someone taking pictures and posting online.’
Diamond did not share any photos of the lump on social media, and the actor’s last known image was a selfie that showed him in his hospital bed before he passed away.
Diamond did not feel well in the weeks before her appointment at the hospital.
After being diagnosed with small cell lung cancer in early January, he underwent a round of chemotherapy and remained optimistic, despite the odds he faced.
– Of course he was scared, but he tried to find it funny. Dustin tried to be as positive as he could at all – that’s what he was – but he was scared, ‘Paul told People on Tuesday.
‘He had chemotherapy – tried everything possible. But it did not work. ‘
News of Diamond’s death sparked a wave of regret among Saved By The Bell fans around the world on Monday – but the actor spent decades trying to escape the role that made him famous.
Diamond (second from left) is seen with his castmates on the red carpet in 1989
Diamond was first cast as the adorable geek Sam ‘Screech’ Powers in 1988, when he was just 11 years old. Stephen Colbert initially auditioned for the role, but was unsuccessful.
The character of the child star was one of the most beloved of the superpopular comedy, which lasted four seasons.
Diamond spent his adolescence in the public spotlight, but later revealed that the attention had an adverse effect.
Full-time filming of the show ceased in 1992, when Diamond was just 16. He subsequently struggled to find roles in which he was not labeled a Saved By The Bell-style geek.
‘I didn’t know what to do,’ said Diamond during a 2013 interview with Oprah’s OWN network
‘It was difficult to get a job that was not a Screech clone.’
In 2016, in an interview with Extra, he stated in the same way: ‘I am proud of the work I did when I did it. It’s just that, how do you get out of that phenomenal role of this Screech character and get out of that mold and do something different? ‘
‘I auditioned, and every time they said,’ Hey, we love it, but we saw a lot of Screech in it. ‘Well, I can’t change my bone structure, what do you want me to do?
Diamond became an instant hit playing Screech on the super popular four-season sitcom. However, when he later auditioned for other roles, he found that he had become a high school geek
Diamond (left) is pictured with co-stars Mark Gosselaar and Mario Lopez
The teen idol struggled with the fact that he had reached a peak in his career before he even became an adult and later struggled with drug use, legal dramas and financial problems.
‘The hardest thing about being a child star is giving up on childhood. You don’t have a childhood, really, ‘Diamond told OWN.
In 2009, he released an autobiography entitled Behind The Bell, in which he revealed that he did not get along with his castmates and claimed that they used drugs on set.
Diamond later claimed that the book was written by a ghostwriter and that the claims were “exaggerated”. He told the media that he tried to contact his former castmates and apologize.
Despite doing so, Diamond was not asked to return to star in the 2020 series revival, which is now being broadcast on Peacock.
“We are aware that Dustin is not considered respectable by the majority,” said his agent, Roger Paul, on Monday.
“He had a history of setbacks, unfortunate events. We want the public to understand that he was not intentionally malevolent. He – like the rest of those who misbehave and misbehave – went through a lot of turmoil and headaches.
Diamond is photographed leaving the courthouse in Port Washington, Wisconsin, in 2015, after being convicted of two misdemeanors stemming from a bar fight on Christmas Day 2014
Even though he was one of the main reasons for the show’s success, Diamond’s career failed in the wake of Saved By The Bell.
He later appeared on reality shows like Celebrity Fit Club, Celebrity Boxing 2 and Celebrity Big Brother.
In recent years, Diamond has also worked as a stand-up comedian.
In 2006, he released a sex tape called Screeched-Saved by the Smell that he directed and reportedly starred in. Diamond later claimed that it was not really him in the video and was a stuntman with his face superimposed.
“The sex tape is what embarrasses me the most,” he said during the 2013 interview.
– You know, I definitely made some money from it, but it wasn’t worth what happened. I mean, people today still despise me.
At Christmas 2014, Diamond got into a bar fight and reportedly stabbed a man in a town near Milwaukee. He was found guilty the following year for disorderly conduct and carrying a concealed weapon
At Christmas 2014, Diamond got into a bar fight and reportedly stabbed a man in a town near Milwaukee. He was found guilty the following year for disorderly conduct and possession of a concealed weapon.
He was sentenced to four months in prison and served three months.
Diamond later told Mario Lopez, his former castmate that he was the host of Extra, that someone beat his then-fiancée Amanda Schutz while they were celebrating Christmas. He said he drew his knife to protect it.
When Saved by the Bell was restarted, Diamond – unlike other members of the original cast – was not invited to return. The program debuted in November 2020 on NBCUniversal’s new streaming service, Peacock.
Diamond faced financial problems during his career and filed for bankruptcy in 2001.
He has also been sued several times for defaulting taxes and foreclosure proceedings for failure to pay mortgage payments.
He once launched an elaborate crowdfunding offer to save his home, selling T-shirts with his face turned to raise $ 250,000.
The back of the T-shirts read ‘I paid $ 15.00 to save Screeech’s home’. The extra ‘e’ was supposedly added to avoid violating copyright laws.
Diamond has no children and leaves his father and girlfriend.
He married Jennifer Misner in 2009, but they divorced in 2013. Misner reportedly suffered a miscarriage when the two were dating in 2004.
Diamond later became engaged to Schutz – the woman he said he was protecting when he stabbed the man in Wisconsin. It is not clear exactly when they broke up.
Another TV show: Diamond and Courtney Stodden at Celebrity Big Brother in Britain in 2013