Jason David Frank, who played Green Ranger Tommy Oliver in the 1990s children’s series Morphin Power Rangers, has died at the age of 49, his publicist said Sunday.
In a statement, Justine Hunt, who did not disclose the date of death or cause, asked for “solitude for her family and friends at this terrible time as she struggles to come to terms with the loss of such a wonderful person.”
Walter Emmanuel Jones, the first Black Power Ranger to star alongside Frank in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, posted on Instagram that he still can’t believe what happened.
“My heart is saddened by the loss of another member of our special family,” Jones wrote.
Tui Trang, who played the original Yellow Power Ranger, died in a car accident in 2001 when he was 27 years old.
Morphin Power Rangers, about five teenagers tasked with saving the Earth from evil, debuted on Fox in 1993 and became a pop culture phenomenon.
At the start of the first season, the character Tommy Oliver, played by Frank, was originally seen as a villain after he was brainwashed by the evil Rita Repulsa, but shortly thereafter, he was accepted into the group as the Green Ranger and became one of the main characters most popular in the series. .
Although his role was not permanent, Frank later returned as the White Ranger and leader of the team.
In other seasons of the series, Frank’s character Tommy Oliver also returned as other Rangers, including Red Zeo Ranger, Red Turbo Ranger, and Black Dinosaur Ranger.
Jason David Frank also played the character in Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie and Turbo: Power Rangers, and made a cameo appearance in the 2017 remake of Power Rangers.
A martial arts practitioner, Frank competed in several mixed martial arts matches in 2009 and 2010.
