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Jason David Frank (September 4, 1973 – November 19, 2022) was an American actor and martial artist who portrayed Tommy Oliver in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo, Power Rangers Turbo, and Power Rangers Dino Thunder, with his final reprisal of the role in the Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel episode "Dimensions in Danger". He also portrayed the feature film incarnation of the same character in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie.

Biography

Frank was born in Covina, California. In 1993, he auditioned and won the role of Tommy Oliver. In the same year he was originally cast as Adam Steel in Cybertron an unaired pilot for VR Troopers, before being called back to Power Rangers to continue playing Tommy. He would appear in the role regularly until his character's departure in Turbo, later returning for "Forever Red" and Dino Thunder.

Martial Arts and MMA

  • Frank was known in kickboxing as "Fearless Frank."
  • In 2017, Frank received an 8th degree black belt in Shotokan Karate.
  • Frank was experienced in Shotokan, Wado-ryu, Taekwondo, Judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Wing Chun, Jeet Kune Do, and Aikido, blending them together in his own style he called "Toso Kune Do."
  • In 2003, Frank was induced into the World Karate Union Hall of Fame.

Personal Life

  • Frank was married to Shawna from 1994 to 2001 and has three children with her. One of them is Jacob Frank, who had appeared in the episode "The Ninja Encounter".
  • Since 2002, Frank had been married to Tammie, also a martial artist, and has one daughter with her, Jenna Rae Frank, who is also an actress and martial artist. Frank was also the stepfather of Shayla, one of Tammie's daughters from a previous relationship.
  • Frank had an older brother Erik Frank, who had passed away in 2001. Erik Frank had portrayed David Trueheart, Tommy's long-lost older brother in MMPR. Additionally, his death caused Frank to be absent from late co-star Thuy Trang's funeral and encouraged him to take up Christianity.
  • In 2017, Matthew Sterling attempted to approach him at Phoenix Comicon, but was arrested by the police after making threatening social media posts. Sterling was later sentenced to 25 years at the Arizona State Hospital.[2]

Death

Note: For clarity purposes, due to their sharing of the same surname, Frank and his wife will be referred to using their first names.

On November 19. 2022, Jason passed away from suicide.[3] He is survived by his wife Tammie, and their four children, sons Hunter and Jacob, and daughters Skye and Jenna.

Although it was initially reported that Jason had been unfaithful in their marriage, which resulted in an alleged divorce and his subsequent suicide[4], Tammie later clarified that this wasn't the case. She confirmed that although a temporary separation between the two did occur, it was actually due to the recent suicide death of their daughter Shayla. The couple had been separated for months before the two ultimately decided to reconcile and go out on a date.

TMZ had reported that the two slept in different hotel rooms due to their "divorce", with other hotel guests later filing noise complaints against them. Tammie later clarified that she and her husband always slept in different rooms since the beginning of their relationship, with the "noise" not being any fighting, but fun and joyfulness. Tammie was in Jason's room to help him sober up before heading downstairs to get snacks. When she returned to his door 10 minutes later, there was no response. After the police was called, they opened the door and discovered that Frank had died by suicide.[5]

Filmography

Film

Television

Other Media

Notes

  • Frank has the record of being the actor with the most episodic appearances in Power Rangers, totaling 257.
  • Following his original exit from the series during Power Rangers Turbo, Frank had since gotten numerous tattoos over his entire arms and chest. Due to this, any return appearances he made in the Power Rangers franchise required him to wear clothing that hid his tattoos, such as long-sleeve shirts and jackets. He confirmed that his appearance in Super Ninja Steel would be his final performance as Tommy, stating his desire to no longer cover his bodily tattoos and focus on his original project Legend of the White Dragon. Even so, Frank continued to acknowledge and appreciate the brand and its fans though his attendance of 2022's Power Morphicon.[6]
    • Archived audio recordings later revealed that Frank was dissatisfied with the creative direction of the show recently taken by Saban, Hasbro, and Boom! Studios. It was alleged that he had proposed story concepts for Power Rangers, like a Green Ranger spin-off, that were subsequently rejected. However, Frank believed the studios later incorporated his ideas into their own narratives, such as the creation of the character, Lord Drakkon, and the Once & Always special.[7]

External links

References

Footnotes


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