Jason David Frank

Jason David Frank
Background information
Born	September 4, 1973 Covina, California, U.S.
Died	November 19, 2022 (aged 49) Houston, Texas, U.S.
Cause of death	Suicide
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actor, voice actor, martial artist
Years active	1993-2022
Spouse	Shawna Frank (1994-2001; divorced) Tammie Frank (2003-2022; his death)
Children	4

Jason David Frank was an American actor and martial artist best known for his role as Tommy Oliver in the Power Rangers television franchise.

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 is known in kickboxing as "Fearless Frank."
• In 2017, Frank received an 8th degree black belt in Shotokan Karate.
• Frank is 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 calls "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 named Jacob, who had appeared in the episode "The Ninja Encounter".
• Since 2002, Frank has been married to Tammie, also a martial artist, and has one daughter with her, Jenna, who is also an actress and martial artist. In 2022, Tammie filed for divorce citing infidelity and conflict between the two.
• 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.

Death

On November 19, 2022, Frank passed away from suicide. Frank 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 Frank had been unfaithful in his marriage, which resulted in an alleged divorce and Frank's subsequent suicide, his wife 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. They had been separated for months before the two decided to reconcile, with the couple going out on a date.

TMZ had reported that because they were "divorced", the two slept in different hotel rooms with other hotel guests later filing noise complaints against them. Tammie later clarified that she and her husband always slept in different rooms from 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 Jason had died by suicide.

Filmography

Film

• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995) - Tommy Oliver/White Ranger
• Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (1997) - Tommy Oliver/Red Turbo Ranger
• Power Rangers (2017) - Angel Grove citizen

Television

• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Season 1) (1993-1994) - Tommy Oliver/Green Ranger
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Season 2) (1994-1995) - Tommy Oliver/White Ranger, Tom Oliver/Clone Green Ranger, White Stranger/Wild West White Ranger
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Season 3) (1995-1996) - Tommy Oliver/White Ranger
• Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers (1996) - Tommy Oliver
• Power Rangers Zeo (1996) - Tommy Oliver/Red Zeo Ranger (Zeo Ranger V Red)
• Power Rangers Turbo (1997) - Tommy Oliver/Red Turbo Ranger I
• Power Rangers Wild Force, Episode 34 (2002) - Tommy Oliver/Red Zeo Ranger (Zeo Ranger V Red)
• Power Rangers Dino Thunder (2004) - Tommy Oliver/Black Dino Thunder Ranger
• Power Rangers Super Megaforce, Episode 20/Extended ver. (2014) - Tommy Oliver/Green Ranger
• Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel, Episode 10 (2018) - Tommy Oliver/Green Ranger/White Ranger/Red Zeo Ranger/Black Dino Thunder Ranger

Other Media

• Power Rangers HyperForce (2018) - Tommy Oliver/Black Dino Ranger, Lord Drakkon

Roles

Tommy Oliver (Power Rangers franchise; 1993-2022)

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, Jason David Frank had since gotten numerous tattoos over his entire arms and chest. Due to this, any return appearances he would make in the Power Rangers franchise require him to wear clothing that hides his tattoos, such as long-sleeve shirts and jackets.
• The role of Len in Kamen Rider Dragon Knight almost went to JDF, but instead went to Matt Mullens, due to the fact the producers didn't want viewers to think Kamen Rider and Power Rangers coexisted in the same world.

External links

• Rising Sun Karate Academy
• Article on new school in the Summerwood suburb of Houston, Texas
• Fall Guy Movie Page
• WASKO - World all styles Kickboxing organization (WASKO)
• Jason David Frank on IMDB.
• (http://www.tv.com/jason-david-frank/person/23451/summary.html Jason David Frank at tv.com)
• http://withleather.uproxx.com/2013/01/the-green-power-ranger-broke-a-board-breaking-skydiving-world-record
• Jason David Frank on Wikipedia.
• Jason David Frank on Instagram.