Dustin Diamond

Dustin Neil Diamond (born January 7, 1977) is an American actor, musician, and stand-up comedian best known for his role as Samuel "Screech" Powers on the television show Saved by the Bell.

Biography

Early life

Diamond was born in San Jose, California and is the son of Mark Diamond. According to an interview he gave with Slate Magazine, he was repeatedly molested by his maternal uncle Cory. His first job involved working as a live mannequin in a department store display. As a fifth grader, he landed the role of eighth-grader Samuel "Screech" Powers on the popular TV sitcom Saved by the Bell.

Career

Diamond's most memorable role to date is that of the nerdy Samuel "Screech" Powers on the television show Saved by the Bell, a role he played for close to thirteen years from its beginning as Good Morning, Miss Bliss (1988-89) through its final incarnation, Saved by the Bell: The New Class (1995-2000).

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, where Screech continued his typical misadventures. The College Years was canceled after one season. Diamond returned to Bayside High as Principal Belding's assistant in The New Class episodes, remaining with the show until its cancellation.

Appearances after Saved by the Bell

After Saved By The Bell ended, Diamond has been featured on a number of game shows featuring celebrities including The Weakest Link, Celebrity Boxing 2, and professional wrestling matches. Diamond has also made several cameo appearances in films including an appearance in Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star in 2003, and Made in 2001.

In 2001, Diamond released the video Dustin Diamond Teaches Chess in which he shows various techniques for becoming a better chess player. It is punctuated by appearances by Diamond, in various costumes, such as dressing as Screech, Liberace and Al Jolson-style black face.

Celebrity Fit Club

Diamond was a cast member of the fifth season of Celebrity Fit Club, during which his personality, his refusal to alter his dieting habits, his reliance on diet pills, his tendency to quit in the middle of physical challenges, and his antagonism of his castmates caused much conflict. He particularly came into conflict with former American Idol finalist Kimberley Locke, country singer Cledus T. Judd, rapper Da Brat, and trainer Sgt. Harvey Walden IV. At one point during the season, he apparently quit the show, but later returned. Despite his insistence that he had achieved a peaceful state of mind, he continued to sequester himself from enthused participation in group events, refused to offer encouragement to his teammates during weigh-ins, and responded to criticism from the show's judges by claiming that he was being unfairly targeted. Tensions between Diamond and the rest of the celebrities culminated in an open confrontation between himself and Harvey Walden resulting in a comment referencing "physical combat," which Walden interpreted to be a challenge. Diamond started on the show weighing 217 lbs. and lost 30 pounds with a total of 187.

Diamond returned for the sixth season Boot Camp edition of the show, joining a team of "Second Chancers" that includes Toccara Jones, Tina Yothers, and Willie Aames where he gained 30 lbs back to his starting weight at 217 lbs. Diamond appeared to be trying to follow the show's program, in a marked contrast to his behavior during the previous season, and was named team captain. However, the judges remained skeptical of him. Sgt. Walden openly questioned the decision to name him captain (saying Yothers should have been his choice) and another judge said that she was "waiting for the other shoe to drop" regarding his behavior. When Diamond didn't show up for a day of work, claiming he was stranded at an airport by bad weather, Walden "fired" him as team captain and named Jones the new leader. While Diamond and Walden clashed again the following week when Walden called Diamond a "Nazi", Diamond ultimately stayed put and held his own for the Second Chancers. Later on the season he and Tina Yothers were traded to the Newbie team. Diamond lost 23 lbs on the show, with a total of 194 lbs. His team won the grand prize.

Stand-up comedian

Diamond has performed stand-up comedy for many years. His comic style is similar to that of Bob Saget, referencing his sitcom years as well as using very blue humor in his stage act.

Diamond has had trouble as a result of failing to show for a scheduled performance. Diamond was scheduled to appear at the University of Connecticut to give a stand-up comedy performance followed by a meet and greet on Thursday, February 8, 2007, but did not appear. According to Diamond's agent, Roger Paul of Roger Paul Management LLP, he failed to board his plane. All of the tickets purchased by students were refunded and Diamond, having breached his contract, did not receive any payment.

Personal life

Diamond was three years younger than most of the cast of Saved by the Bell. Because of the age and religious differences, he was never very close to any of the other teenage actors on the show. He said that while the other teenage actors went out together and got along, he basically did his own thing. He said that he did get along with T.K. Carter and Dennis Haskins. Diamond claims that he still keeps in touch with Haskins to this day.

In July 2008, Diamond signed a deal with Gotham Books to write a tell-all book about the "sexual escapades among cast members, drug use, and hardcore partying" during his stint on Saved By the Bell.

dustindiamond.com

In 2003, Diamond attempted to take control of the domain dustindiamond.com, which was owned by Max Goldberg, the creator of YTMND. Diamond was apparently upset because some visitors were posting gay fantasies about him in the guestbook on dustindiamond.com. Diamond's lawyer, Herro & Lamont, LLC, served Goldberg with a cease and desist order that was unsuccessful.

In 2004, the case was submitted to the National Arbitration Forum acting on behalf of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Diamond ultimately lost the suit. The decision read, in part, "The Panel accepts Respondent’s argument that the "outrageous ugly and low-tech graphics and numerous errors and misspellings" as well as the sheer absurdity of the site’s claim that Dustin Diamond is a "Famous Superstar and Sex Symbol", clearly signal that the site is not meant to be taken seriously. Goldberg offered, in court, to produce various letters of support, confirming public understanding of the website's humor, including letters from a Professor of Cinema Studies who coauthored two well-known books of religious parody among other publications, and a letter from an art correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and the Oxford American. These writers called the website "an electronic art installation of great wit and outstanding merit," a "parody," and an "obvious and clearly affectionate joke." Whether the site is regarded as parody, satire, or critical commentary, and notwithstanding Respondent’s assertion that "lawyers are notoriously bad at understanding how humor works,” this Panel finds that legitimate noncommercial fair use commentary is involved. Goldberg, then 21, represented himself through the suit.

The precedent-setting decision may be the first time that a celebrity has lost a domain name dispute to a non-commercial parody site.

Alleged debt

On June 11, 2006, Diamond appeared on the Dean Blundell show in Toronto on 102.1 The Edge revealing he was in fact broke and was facing foreclosure from a lender, as poor credit was preventing him from obtaining a mortgage from a bank.

On June 13, 2006, Diamond appeared on The Howard Stern Show stating that he was given 30 days to come up with US$250,000 or risk losing his Port Washington, Wisconsin, home for failing to make payments on his land lease. Diamond said he blamed Arthur Giraldo, a mortgage broker for New York Capital Exchange, who Diamond claims "screws over the working man then laughs at their expense". Diamond decided to sell t-shirts for $15 that had "I paid 15 dollars to help Screeech [sic] save his house" emblazoned on the front. He said that he would need to sell 30,000 t-shirts to completely cover the costs. He explained the extra 'e' in Screeech was needed because of copyright laws, since he does not own the rights to the name or character.

On August 14, 2006, Diamond was scheduled for an online television telethon, in an effort to raise funds to prevent the foreclosure on his house. His broadcast was canceled less than 90 minutes before it was to be aired live, as an executive at the startup online television network claimed that the foreclosure story lacked credibility, and that Diamond had "exhibited some really strange and obnoxious behavior.

On September 2, 2006, Mike Nichols, the Ozaukee County columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said in an article that Diamond was a fraud and the whole story about Diamond losing his house was a publicity stunt. On October 7, a follow-up article stated in interviews with several people that they had not received t-shirts after months of waiting, corroborating the alleged fraudulence.

On November 16, 2007, Diamond appeared on Mancow Morning Madhouse and admitted he was never destitute, but his mortgage broker had tried to rip him off.

Sex tape

On November 13, 2006, Diamond's sex tape Screeched, aka Saved by the Smell, was released by Red Light District. It features a bride-to-be Summer Price, her bridesmaid, Diamond, and a friend of his all engaging in various sexual acts, including a 'Dirty Sanchez'. According to Diamond, the sex tape got out because he and some friends allegedly have a "monthly gathering" wherein they allegedly exchange such tapes which earn points based on "what we're able to accomplish" on film. "We do it almost like poker. The tape could have been left out in anybody’s home, machine, computer." The people that are allegedly involved in this group are all, according to Diamond, 'profile people.' Diamond has expressed the belief that the tape was not leaked by any of those people, but that it may have been the significant other of one of them. Diamond's manager, Roger Paul, acknowledges there was hope that the tape would raise his client's profile.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
1987	The Price of Life	Young Stiles
	American Playhouse	Young Stiles	TV, 1 episode
	It's a Living	Young Sonny	TV, 1 episode
	Yogi's Great Escape	Chubby Kid (Voice)	TV, 1 episode
1988	Big Top Pee-wee	Deke
	Purple People Eater	Big Z
1988-1989	Good Morning, Miss Bliss	Samuel "Screech" Powers	TV, 13 episodes
1989	She's Out of Control	Beach boy
1989-1990	The Wonder Years	Joey	TV, 2 episodes
1989-1993	Saved by the Bell	Samuel "Screech" Powers	TV, 82 episodes
1990	The Munsters Today	Rob	TV, 1 episode
1992	Star Trek: The Next Generation	Greeter	TV, 1 episode
	Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style	Samuel "Screech" Powers
1993	Getting By	Tommy	TV, 2 episodes
1993-1994	Saved by the Bell: The College Years	Samuel "Screech" Powers	TV, 18 episodes
1994	Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas	Samuel "Screech" Powers
1994-2000	Saved by the Bell: The New Class	Samuel "Screech" Powers	TV, 67 episodes
2000	Longshot	Waiter
2001	Made	Himself
2002	Jane White Is Sick & Twisted	Simone
	Big Fat Liar	Wolf Party Guest
	The Rerun Show	Doctor	TV, 1 episode
2003	Pauly Shore Is Dead	Himself
	Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star	Himself
2005	Duck Dodgers	Xainius the Eternal	TV, 1 episode
	13th Grade	Corey
2008	Our Feature Presentation	Mr. Renolds
2009	Hamlet A.D.D.	Bernardo	Post-production

References

External links

• Dustin Diamond at the Internet Movie Database
• The Dustin Diamond Foundation
• Dustin Diamond audio interview with THECOMMENTARY.CA, May 2005