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Jason David Frank (born September 4, 1973) is an American actor and martial artist, best known for playing Tommy Oliver in Power Rangers (1993–1997, 2002 and 2004, with 243 total episode actual appearances and 258 character appearances).

Early life

Jason David Frank was born in Covina, California, a city county in Los Angeles. He attended Bonita High School. Jason first became interested in Martial Arts when he was young, and at the age of 4 he trained at The Red Dragon Karate School. When he was 12 he started teaching other children, and when he turned 18, he and a friend decided to buy the school. He then wanted to do martial arts in film so he pursued acting.

Career

Frank auditioned for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in 1993 when he was 19. He was cast in the role of Tommy Oliver, the Green Ranger. He later became the White 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.^[1][2] However, due to Frank's popularity with Ranger fans, he was brought back as the Green Ranger again ^[3] Hawkins would take over on Troopers.

After 3 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 castmembers Johnny Yong Bosch, Nakia Burrise and Catherine Sutherland agreed to leave and were replaced.

After he left the series in 1997, Frank came back to Power Rangers as the Red Zeo Ranger 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 a favour to Douglas Sloan ^[4]. He's joked that Saban and Disney are "both the same, they're cheap" but that he was impressed with the production crew for Dino Thunder. ^[5] He took a large chunk of the season off to return to Los Angeles, as he still had to manage Rising Sun Karate.

Frank appeared in the most Power Rangers episodes: 258 character appearances and 243 actual appearances. He also appeared in the most seasons: seven total (Mighty Morphin [3 seasons], Zeo, Turbo, Wild Force, and Dino Thunder). Frank has also worn the most different colors of Power Rangers suits (green, white, red[twice], and black).

Fighting and martial arts

With his knowledge of many different styles of martial arts, Frank collected the most practical applications, modified them with his own philosophies and created his own blend of American Karate, "Toso Kune Do".[1] On June 28, 2003, he was inducted into the World Karate Union Hall of Fame.^[6] Frank appeared at the Arnold Classic on February 29, 2008, in Columbus, Ohio.

Mixed martial arts

Frank also has an interest in mixed martial arts. He was scheduled to fight against Ron 'The Badger' McMasters on June 23, 2007, at the Williamson County Pavilion in Marion, Illinois.^[7] However, Frank opted out of the fight since he did not appreciate the event getting changed from an MMA fight to an exhibition boxing match because his opponent was trained only in boxing, and because he felt that an exhibition match where both fighters are declared winners was "meaningless".^[8]

On August 21, 2009, Frank announced his signing with SuckerPunch Entertainment,^[9][10][11] a sports marketing and management company specializing in MMA. He began training with UFC lightweight Melvin Guillard. Jason David Frank made his much anticipated MMA debut versus Jonathon "the Mack Truck" Mack January 30 at the Houston Arena Theatre at Lonestar Beatdown. He defeated Mack in the first round by omoplata submission.^{[12][13][14][15]} Frank fought in his second fight at Lonestar Beatdown: Dallas on February 19 in Arlington, Texas. His opponent was Chris Rose who made his ring entrance wearing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle robe. Frank defeated Rose in round 1 by TKO (Strikes).^[16][17][18]

Personal life

Frank began training in martial arts at the age of four, earning a black belt by age 12, and eventually became an instructor. He has married twice—his first marriage to Shawna Frank ended in divorce in 2001, and they have three children: Jacob, Hunter and Skye. He is currently married to Tammie Frank with whom he has one child, Jenna Raye; he has also adopted Tammie's daughter Shayla. He also has numerous tattoos on his chest, arms and back.

He did not attend MMPR co-star Thuy Trang's funeral because his older brother, Eric Frank, died at around the same time of illness at the age of 29. Eric had appeared as Tommy's brother, David Trueheart, in several episodes of Power Rangers Zeo.

In 2006, he started a career in Muay Thai/MMA. He has a sixth-degree black belt and as of 2007, owns four karate schools under Rising Sun Karate, including the school Red Dragon Karate where he initially started his training. The RSKA teaches a style of Toso Kun Do, the form developed by Frank.

Frank has associations with both Louis D. Casamassa and his son Chris Casamassa (the latter of whom played Scorpion in Mortal Kombat).

Mixed martial arts record

Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
xWin	2–0	Chris Rose	TKO (Strikes)	Lonestar Beatdown: Dallas	02010-02-19 February 19, 2010	1	2:09	Arlington, Texas
xWin	1–0	SilvaJonathan Mack	Submission (Omoplata)	Lonestar Beatdown: Houston	02010-01-30 January 30, 2010	1	1:28	Houston, Texas	MMA Debut

Accomplishments/Awards

Rising Sun Karate Accomplishments/Awards

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

• Jason David Frank at the Internet Movie Database
• Rising Sun Karate Academy
• Jason David Frank Official Facebook Fan Page
• Jesus Didn't Tap - MMA clothing line