CULT FACTION

For all your cult film, tv, cartoon, comic and video game needs

Jason David Frank

He is the Power Rangers’ Power Ranger! The Ranger that cannot die! He also proved his point by turning his hand to MMA.

CM-Punk-JDF

How did one man manage to become the legend of a franchise where he is still in demand 21 years after his first appearance?

Jason_David_Frank_as_Tommy_-_4

Well it almost didn’t happen! As Frank originally auditioned for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers pilot. He went for the part of the Red Ranger but was unsuccessful. He later tried out again in 1993 when he was 19. He was cast in the role of Tommy Oliver, the Green Ranger.

Frank was supposed to be the lead character Adam Steele in VR Troopers (originally called “Cybertron”) and shot a pilot episode before being called back to Power Rangers. According to both Frank and Brad Hawkins, Hawkins was to replace Frank originally as the White Ranger on Power Rangers. However, due to Frank’s popularity with Ranger fans, he was brought back as the White Ranger again. Hawkins would take over on VR Troopers. The character, Adam Steele was renamed Ryan Steele.

After three seasons Mighty Morphin Power Rangers became Power Rangers: Zeo. The transition is part of the annual Ranger suit change to match the annual change of the Super Sentai series. Frank’s character became the Red Zeo Ranger. The following year in Power Rangers: Turbo he became the first Red Turbo Ranger. During mid-season Frank and fellow cast members Johnny Yong Bosch, Nakia Burrise and Catherine Sutherland agreed to leave and were replaced.

JasonDavidFrank

After he left the series in 1997, Frank came back to Power Rangers as Zeo Ranger V in 2002 for the special 10th anniversary episode, entitled “Forever Red”, in Power Rangers: Wild Force (reuniting with Austin St. John). He then reprised his role in 2004 in Power Rangers: Dino Thunder, as the Black Dino Ranger. During his time as the Black Dino Ranger he was always shown in long-sleeved shirts to cover his tattoos on his arms. This was also the case during “Forever Red” of Wild Force. Being the Black Dino Ranger was a favour to Douglas Sloan. He has joked that Saban and Disney are “both the same, they’re cheap” but that he was impressed with the production crew for Dino Thunder. Frank again returned as Tommy Oliver in the series finale of Power Rangers Super Megaforce.

Frank has expressed interest in developing a Green Ranger solo series or feature film after an encounter with Stan Lee at a comic book convention.

Frank has been featured on the YouTube channel “Bat in the Sun” in a miniseries following his everyday life. He also reprised his role of Tommy Oliver as the Mighty Morphin White Ranger in the “Super Power Beatdown” episodes, which pitted his White Ranger character against Mortal Kombat’s Scorpion. In another episode, Jason will play Tommy again but as the Might Morphin Green Ranger, pitted against Street Fighter’s Ryu.

Sadly, Frank passed away on 19th November 2022 at the age of 49 years old.

 

Related Posts
Yvonne Monlaur

Yvonne Monlaur was a French actress, best known for her work in British films during the 1950s and 1960s. She was born on April 26, 1938, in Pau, France, and Read more

Yvonne Craig

Yvonne Craig, the actress best known for playing Batgirl in the 1960s Batman TV series, has died at the age of 78. Before Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman, before Joanna Cameron's Read more

Yaphet Kotto – The Alien, Running Man, Bond Villain Actor

Yaphet Kotto, whether you remember him as the worst Bond Villain or a member of the Nostromo crew or as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s running mate in The Running Man, it is Read more

Yancy Butler

Yancy Butler was born in Greenwich Village in Manhattan on 2nd July 1970. Her mother Leslie Vega was a theatre company manager whilst her father Joe Butler was the drummer and vocalist Read more

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Since Fox’s bastardisation of The X-Men started to be put right with First Class and Days of Future Past I had high hopes that Apocalypse and in some ways Fox Read more

Wolfgang Reitherman

Wolfgang Reitherman is the definition of an unsung hero. He is not widely known and yet hast directed six of the biggest-grossing, most popular movies of the 1960s and 1970s, not Read more

Wings Hauser

Wings Hauser was born Gerald Dwight Hauser in Hollywood, California on 12th December 1947. The son of director and producer Dwight Hauser. Hauser made his acting debut at age five Read more

Windsor Davies

It is Cult Faction's sad duty to report that acting legend Windsor Davies passed away on Thursday at the age of 88 years old. Davies had retired to France with his Read more

William Zabka

William Zabka was born on October 21st 1965 in New York City; both his parents worked in the film business. His mother Nancy was a business liaison, producer, and production assistant Read more

William Smith

William Smith aka "Big" Bill Smith was born on March 24th 1933 was in Columbia, Missouri. Smith began his acting career at the age of eight when he first appeared on the Read more

William Hartnell

A true hero of cult; best known for being the original Doctor. It may have turned out very different, for the boy known as Billy, if it hadn't been for Read more

William Friedkin: New Hollywood Maverick

William Friedkin, was a man synonymous with groundbreaking cinema, born on August 29, 1935, in Chicago, Illinois, Friedkin's path to becoming a maverick director was a journey filled with challenges, Read more

Who really were the N.W.A. in Hot Fuzz?

It was 2007 when director Edgar Wright dropped Hot Fuzz on us. The film was written by Wright and Simon Pegg and featured long time collaborator Nick Frost. It is Read more

Wes Craven

It is Cult Faction's sad duty to report that Wes Craven, the man who created modern horror with the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise  and then reinvented the genre with the Scream Read more

Werner Herzog

Described by Janet Maslin, the New York Times critic, as the "consummate poet of doom," Herzog is one of cinema's most crusading directors. His personal quest has led him to Read more

Warren Murphy

Cult Faction must sadly report that legendary writer Warren B. Murphy passed away on September 4th 2015 at his home in Virginia Beach, U.S.A. Murphy is most well known for Read more

Walter R. Booth: The Illusionist who Shaped Cinematic Wonders

Walter Reginald Booth, a name synonymous with enchantment and innovation, stands as a remarkable figure in both the world of magic and early cinema. Hailing from the United Kingdom, Booth's Read more

W. Morgan Sheppard

A veteran stage, screen and voice actor, W. Morgan Sheppard was an accomplished and RADA trained actor whose career spanned 55 years. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZ4qli_1C48 Born William Morgan Sheppard in London on Read more

Vivean Gray

Cult Faction is sad to report that Vivean Gray aka Mrs Mangel in Australian soap opera Neighbours, has passed away at the age of 92 years old. Gray came from humble Read more

Virginia Hey

Virginia Hey (born 19 June 1952) is an Australian actress, known for her role as Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan on the science fiction TV series Farscape and as the Warrior Woman in Read more

Founded Cult Faction in 2014. Some would describe him as a teacher, writer, dream weaver, and visionary... some would not...

%d