Saved by the checks – or not.
The late “Saved by the Bell” star Dustin Diamond was making less than $20 on residual checks from the hit sitcom before his death, the actor’s friend Dan Block revealed on Monday’s “Hollywood Demons” episode.
“’Here is one for $12.74,” Block said in the documentary’s “After the Bell” installment, holding up one of Diamond’s checks from 2002.
Diamond, who died of cancer at 44 in 2021, starred in “Saved by the Bell” as the nerdy Screech from 1989 to 1993, reprising the role for “Saved by the Bell: The New Class” between 1993 and 2000.
According to Block, Diamond’s “parents were stealing his money or taking his money,” which left him with lifelong concerns “about how much he made or how much he didn’t make.”
Diamond’s father, Mark Diamond, subsequently appeared onscreen to deny the allegation.
Dustin’s “upset” father claimed money went to Dustin’s agent, while “anything left over … cover[ed] certain things like gas, taxes [and] headshots.”
Ed Alonzo, who was in “Saved by the Bell” as the owner of Bayside High student hangout spot The Max, exclusively told Page Six Dustin and Mark seemed like “the best of friends” when he knew them.
“The amount of money we all made was not amazing money that the cast of ‘Friends’ was making,” the 63-year-old added. “We weren’t making $1 million an episode.”
The magician “never saw frivolous spending of money,” claiming Dustin and Mark “weren’t driving elaborate cars or going on crazy vacations.”
After “Saved by the Bell,” Dustin didn’t get opportunities to “show his acting chops in other areas,” Alonzo told us of his co-star getting “locked into” a child star persona.
Dustin “never really found a way to escape [Screech] even though he tried to,” Alonzo noted.
Elsewhere in Monday’s episode, “Saved by the Bell: The New Class” production assistant Scott DeVaney alleged that Dustin threatened an unnamed fellow actor on set during an argument.
According to DeVaney, Diamond shouted that he “could have [the individual] fired.”
This “led to Dustin pulling out a butterfly knife,” DeVaney claimed of the “very physically threatening” moment.
Ultimately, the argument ended with Dustin storming off and crying.
Mark confirmed he got a phone call after the incident to inform him his son had “threatened somebody.”
After “Saved by the Bell” wrapped, Dustin made his way back into headlines over a sex tape, as well as a 2014 arrest and three-month jail stay over allegedly stabbing a man in a Wisconsin bar bathroom.
The “Hollywood Demons” docuseries is streaming on HBO Max, with new episodes premiering Mondays at 9 p.m. ET.
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