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Dustin Diamond

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File:Screech and Belding.jpg
Dustin Diamond (right), with co-star Dennis Haskins.

Dustin Neil Diamond (born January 7, 1977 in San Jose, California), is an American actor who gained fame during the 1990s as Samuel "Screech" Powers, a nerdy character in the popular sitcom, Saved by the Bell.

"If I can make a person smile, I've made sunshine" - Dustin Diamond

Early life

Diamond attended Zion Lutheran School in Anaheim, California. His first job involved working as a living mannequin in a department store display. He later auditioned for the lead role in the cult classic feature film Cool as Ice, but was rejected because he was too young at the time, and he was limited to appearing in scenes that were cut from the movie anyway. He also appeared briefly in Big Top Pee-wee.

Screech on Saved by the Bell

Of course, his most pivotal role, and that which would become irreversably tied to his image, was the role of Samuel "Screech" Powers on Saved by the Bell, a role he played for close to thirteen years, from its beginning as Good Morning, Miss Bliss, to its ultimate incarnation as Saved by the Bell: The New Class. It could be argued that, with the possible exception of Mr. Belding, no one character is as closely identified with the show as Screech.

Screech was originally supposed to have an extremely high pitched, almost squealing voice, but instead it was decided that the character would possess a quirky, although not so over the top tone instead. The show originally aired on The Disney Channel under the Miss Bliss title (now referred to as Saved By the Bell: The Junior High Years), featuring Hayley Mills in the titular role. After a year, the show was brought over to NBC and repackaged into its more well-known incarnation. Of all the show's characters, only Screech, Zack Morris, Lisa Turtle, and Mr. Belding made the jump from JFK Junior High in Indiana, to Bayside High in Palisades, California, although the incredibly abrupt change in venue was never acknowledged, much less explained.

Screech was more often than not a pivotal figure in the schemes and pranks of the Bayside gang, from pretending to be an alien (which almost resulted in his dissection at the hands of the government), to getting kidnapped by rival high school Valley in the ongoing inter-school "Prank War", and in one instance even winning the "Gay Bayside" Pageant, in spite of an impressive drum solo performed by A.C. Slater. His parents, who were extremely obsessed with all things Elvis-related, were never seen, aside from one episode where his mother leaves him in charge of the house as his parents went on a vacation to Graceland, which naturally led to an episode spanning dilemma involving a broken Elvis statue.

Screech's robot Kevin is also occasionally shown in some episodes, and Screech makes numerous references to his insect and animal collections. He has also been shown dressing up as (and dancing like) Michael Jackson, impersonating Zack on numerous occasions, and stereotypically portraying a Native American for Zack's school project. He claims to be descended from the "Great Italian lover and spy", Luigi Powerelli, making it clear that he is part Italian. In the final episode of the regular series, he willingly relinquishes the title of valedictorian to Jessie Spano, knowing how much it meant to her.

Continuing the series into college, Saved by the Bell: The College Years shows most of the cast transplanted into not only the same college, but also the same college dormitory. The most notable of Screech's actions in this series involve him stealing a canister of nitrous oxide from the chemistry lab, in order to gain acceptance from other students attending a rave after Slater belittles him about being a screwup.

After the end of that series, he quickly returned to Bayside High as Mr. Belding's assistant in The New Class episodes, remaining with the show until its cancellation.

Appearances after Saved by the Bell

Diamond has kept busy professionally since the popular teenager sitcom was cancelled. He has been featured on a number of TV shows, including The Weakest Link, and has participated in a celebrity boxing contest, and professional wrestling matches. He also has released a video, entitled Dustin Diamond Teaches Chess, where he shows various techniques for becoming a better chess player.

Diamond made a notable cameo appearance as himself in the movie Made, where Vince Vaughn's character incredulously questions a doorman at a club as to why "Screech" was allowed into the venue while he was not. Diamond also appeared in Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star as himself as well. He is only shown in a few scenes (when Dickie is hanging out with a bunch of former child stars in a apartment and at Dickie's sitcom rehearsal). Diamond also appeared on the sitcom Will and Grace.

DustinDiamond.com and other websites

In 2003, Diamond alienated some of his fanbase by filing a lawsuit for ownership of http://www.DustinDiamond.com (warning: pornographic imagery and content), a parody website owned by Max Goldberg which largely promoted the idea that Samuel "Screech" Powers was the constant victim of homosexual rape by any and all other characters. He lost that case, although the website has apparently shut down nonetheless, as a result of its forums being overloaded with spam bots, as well as Goldbergs new concentration placed towards his then-upcoming site, You're The Man Now Dog.

Other sites have popped up since the verdict, including DustinDiamondLove, a forum site formed in 2005 by Maxwell Nerdstrom (unrelated to Goldberg). The new site largely features the same content.

Salty The Pocketknife

Diamond is currently a stand-up comedian and bass player in the band Salty The Pocketknife. However, harassment perpetrated by DustinDiamond.com contributors led to the closing of the band's forum section on their website, and at some time afterward the website was hacked by a group calling itself "The Iranian Black Hat", and has not as yet been repaired. There have also been documented cases of band members being harassed on AOL Instant Messenger as well, with references to Screech invariably making their way into the conversations.

Lawsuit

The future of the band is unknown. A paroady of the band called Rusty the Sheriffs Badge began playing in West Hollywood, led by well known West Hollywood local Gay Zack, they were served a cease and desist by the bands lawyer. Currently Diamond is being sued by Salty the Pocketknife's former label. Diamond is being sued by Ambler music producer/distributor Sonance Entertainment, which claims that Diamond did nothing to promote the band's CD and left Sonance on the hook for CDs, which feature songs entitled "Red Zubaz 145", "Magic Dumpster Ride", "Smear No Vasoline" and the crowd favorite "Rim Goblin." Sonance, headed by Rick Rimmer and represented in court by Lawrence Paker of Norristown, seeks in excess of $200,000.

The suit says Sonance arranged a promotional trip to New York, but Diamond "failed to wake up for scheduled radio interviews, complained about his picture not being on a billboard in Times Square, and spent almost a full afternoon auditioning for a television part that had nothing to do with the Salty CD." The suit also alleges that although Diamond had promised to promote the CD on Jay Leno's and Howard Stern's shows, Diamond never contacted Leno's people, and Stern's crew declined Diamond's offer to appear.

Daniel W. McCartney of Norristown, representing Diamond, said Diamond "fulfilled his obligations."

Personal life

While working on Saved by the Bell, members of the cast regularly dated each other. Diamond, who was considerably younger than the rest of the cast, was not a part of this, although he has claimed to have dated many of the show's extras. He was also said to have had a relationship of some sort with Full House's Candace Cameron.

Diamond claims to maintain a very close friendship with T.K. Carter, who played "Milo the Janitor" on the Miss Bliss Episodes, as well as with Dennis Haskins, who played Mister Belding, and who Diamond has been quoted as saying "...showed him the ropes".

It was rumoured that the producers of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy approached Dustin to see if he would like to be a temporary replacement for Jai, who was considering doing a Broadway musical. It remains uncertian if Dustin accepted the role, many of his fans eagerly await the hear his decision.

Diamond challenged Sasha Mitchell of Step by Step fame to a martial-arts competition in 1998. So far, Mitchell has refused to comment upon the challenge, or to even acknowledge it in any manner.

Diamond reportedly has plans to write a book about his experience growing up as a child actor. Rumors have circulated that he is the brother of Beastie Boy Michael Diamond, aka Mike D, as well as that he is the son of singer Neil Diamond, both of which are untrue. However, Dustin's father Mark Diamond did in fact make an appearance in a Saved by the Bell episode, where he played a science teacher who threatened to "...experiment with their grades."

Dustin operates a charity known as the Dustin Diamond Foundation, which supports organizations which specialize in child care. This foundation was created after the miscarriage of his first child.

Dustin Diamond currently resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his wife Jennifer. There have been numerious stories that he has been harassed by Screech "fans".

The "Blue Oyster," a gay bar in Wisconsin, offers a popular mixed drink called the "Screech teabag" which includes 4 shots of vodka and cherry HI-C.

Filmography

  1. Brokeback Mountian (2005)... cowboy at bathhouse
  2. 13th Grade (2004)... Corey
  3. Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003)... Himself
  4. Law and Order : SVU (2003)... rape victim #2
  5. Big Fat Liar (2002)... Wolf Party Guest
  6. Natural Born Drillers (2002)... Paxton Fudge
  7. Jane White Is Sick & Twisted (2002)... Simone
  8. Made (2001)... Himself
  9. Show Them the Ropes (2000)... Man in sailor suit (uncredited)
  10. Longshot (2000)... WaiteràÌÒÒ
  11. The Pope and Rocco (1999)... Chubbs
  12. How to Make a Chinaman's Sleeve (1995)... Buster
  13. Saved by the Bell: The New Class (1993) (TV series)... Samuel "Screech" Powers (1994–2000)
  14. Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas (1994) (TV)... Samuel "Screech" Powers
  15. Screech On Life (1994) (TV)... Samuel "Screech" Powers
  16. Saved by the Bell: The College Years (1993) (TV series)... Samuel "Screech" Powers
  17. Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style (1992) (TV)... Samuel "Screech" Powers
  18. Saved by the Bell (1989) (TV series)... Samuel "Screech" Powers
  19. She's Out of Control (1989)... Kid on the Beach
  20. Big Top Pee-wee (1988)... Child - Deke
  21. Purple People Eater (1988)... Big Z
  22. Good Morning, Miss Bliss (a.k.a. Saved by the Bell: The Junior High Years (1987) (TV series)... Samuel "Screech" Powers
  23. The Price of Life (1987)... Young Stiles
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