‘Saved by the Bell’ actor weighs in on Dustin Diamond claim that dad mishandled money

One of Dustin Diamond’s former “Saved by the Bell” co-stars says the late actor’s claim that his father, Mark Diamond, mishandled his money seems very inaccurate.

Ed Alonzo, who played the owner of Bayside High student hangout spot The Max from 1989-1992, exclusively told Page Six that Dustin and Mark seemed like “the best of friends” when he knew them.

Alonzo, 63, added, “The amount of money we all made was not amazing money that the cast of ‘Friends’ was making. We weren’t making $1 million an episode.” 

“I never saw frivolous spending of money. They weren’t driving elaborate cars or going on crazy vacations,” Alonzo said of Mark and Dustin.

Alonzo — who recently appeared on the new docuseries “Hollywood Demons” episode “After the Bell,” which features interviews with the cast and crew of the hit ’90s sitcom — said he spent a lot of time with the father-son duo.

He told Page Six that he couldn’t be sure of Dustin’s claim about Mark mishandling his earnings, but from what he observed, they seemed to “get along very well.”

Dustin, who played Screech in “Saved by the Bell,” died of cancer at age 44 in 2021.

Mark denies Dustin’s money claims during the doc, saying the accusation “really made me upset.”

Mark says that agents take 10 percent of the money, and for, “anything left over, we had to cover certain things like gas, taxes, headshots.”

Dustin had a rocky path after the show – including a sex tape, and a 2014 arrest, following an altercation in which he allegedly stabbed a man in a Wisconsin bar. 

Alonzo remembered Dustin as, “always so funny, even off camera.”

They “sadly” didn’t stay in touch after the show, he said.

Alonzo told Page Six he doesn’t think Dustin got “a lot of opportunities” to show his acting chops in other areas, which “kept him locked into [his child star persona]. He never really found a way to escape, even though he tried to.” 

“After the Bell,” dives into the behind the scenes drama from “Saved by the Bell,” which aired on NBC from 1989 to 1993 (and several spinoffs, such as “Saved by the Bell: The College Years” in 1994, and “Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas”) that same year. 

In addition to Diamond, “Saved by the Bell” also starred Mario Lopez, Mark Paul Gosselaar, Elizabeth Berkley, Tiffani Thiessen, and Lark Voorhies. 

“From day one, I always knew that Mark-Paul – even though he was 15 at the time – was an amazing actor,” said Alonzo. 

“I remember going up to him sometimes with lines that I had on the show and I would say, ‘how would you deliver this?’ I would try and get advice from him, because he was already a seasoned pro.” 

Voorhies also makes a rare appearance in “After the Bell.” She stepped back from the spotlight following a mental health diagnosis with schizoaffective thought disorder. 

The doc explains that her condition is different from schizophrenia, because it doesn’t progress and is less “disabling,” with treatment, but its symptoms include delusions and disorganized speech.

Alonzo said he last saw her in 2025, at the memorial service for series exec producer Peter Engel. 

“She was good,” he told Page Six. “She just seemed like the normal shy Lark.” 

He added that Voorhies has, “always been a very quiet girl. Even back in 1989 when we started, she was always shy, and then just would explode and come to life as soon as the cameras were on.”

The documentary covered “some things that might be going on with her,” he said, referring to her mental health, ”but I didn’t really notice any of that.” 

“After the Bell” airs Monday at 9 p.m. on ID and streams on HBO Max.