Dustin Diamond’s Saved by the Bell co-stars are paying tribute to the actor, who died earlier today at 44 years old from stage 4 lung cancer.
“Dustin, you will be missed my man. The fragility of this life is something never to be taken for granted. Prayers for your family will continue on,” Mario Lopez, who played A.C. Slater, tweeted. Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Zack Morris) wrote that he was “deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Dustin Diamond, a true comedic genius. My sincere condolences to his family and friends. Looking back at our time working together, I will miss those raw, brilliant sparks that only he was able to produce. A pie in your face, my comrade.” On Instagram, Tiffani Thiessen (Kelly Kapowski) called life “extremely fragile and it’s something we should never take for granted. God speed Dustin.”
Lark Voorhies (Lisa Turtle) has yet to post anything, but two weeks ago, she sent her “special love and special best wishes” to Diamond after he was hospitalized. “Dustin, all the many in your close circle who know you to be the great person that you are, are truly pulling for you and praying for the best outcome,” she wrote.
Dustin, you will be missed my man. The fragility of this life is something never to be taken for granted. Prayers for your family will continue on… pic.twitter.com/BnxY9XgN5g
— Mario Lopez (@mariolopezviva) February 1, 2021
Deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Dustin Diamond, a true comedic genius. My sincere condolences to his family and friends. Looking back at our time working together, I will miss those raw, brilliant sparks that only he was able to produce. A pie in your face, my comrade.
— Mark-Paul Gosselaar (@MPG) February 1, 2021
Diamond appeared in 248 episodes of the Saved by the Bell franchise as Screech, according to TVLine. He did not appear in the recent revival, but as Slater explained in the Peacock series, Screech is canonically on the International Space System with his robot, Kevin.