Saved by the Bell actor Dustin Diamond dies, three weeks after cancer diagnosis

Dustin Diamond was best known for playing Screech in the nineties sitcom.

Actor Dustin Diamond, 44, has died after a three-week battle with cancer. According to his representative, Diamond, who was best known for his portrayal of Screech on the much-loved sitcom, Saved by the Bell, died on Monday morning just weeks after he was diagnosed with cancer. Diamond's condition had "greatly declined since last week, and he was taken off breathing machines in an attempt to get him to hospice care," his spokesperson Roger Paul confirmed there were, "two people very close to him by his side when he passed away." [caption id="attachment_516477" align="alignnone" width="2000"] SAVED BY THE BELL, Dustin Diamond (as Screech), 1989-1993[/caption] Last month, TMZ reported that the actor had been hospitalised in Florida, a source said they were "concerned it's cancer, and they're conducting a biopsy to get answers. We're told Dustin's family has a history of cancer -- his mother died of breast cancer -- but it's unclear what kind of cancer they suspect in his case." It was later confirmed that Diamond was battling stage four small cell carcinoma, a form of cancer, and was undergoing chemotherapy in a bid to prolong his life. The actor was most famous for playing Screech in Saved By The Bell but he wasn't part of the cast in Peacock's recent revival of the NBC sitcom.