RIP 2022

[G1Optimal]

Jason David Frank best known for his roles as the original green and white ranger on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

[Tha_Phantom]

RIP JDF! Such a shame that reports indicate it was a suicide too.

[griffin]

I was rather shocked to hear about it today too...
He was one of the more prominent characters in the Power Rangers franchise (US version), as he was around for a fair bit... but his intro story was one of my favourites from that first series, and his character got quite a bit of development over the next year or so.

I don't know yet if it was confirmed that it was suicide, but I saw on his wiki page that his wife of almost 10 years (and I think mother of two of his four kids) had filed for divorce in August, so that could have been the cause. But I find it hard to believe that someone as extroverted and with a strong personality like his, being so social and athletic... and having four kids to live for... I just can't believe he would throw it all away.


As for being Transformers related - the surprising thing for me was reading on tfw that JDF voiced a character in the Titans Return cartoon, as the Emissary. Since I still haven't seen the WFC cartoons, I did not know this (it might have been in a news posting at the time, but I might have taken more notice of it if I had seen it and took note of the cast).

[Tha_Phantom]

Yeah, his wife filed for divorce and was looking to take more than half of their assets. She had also accused him of cheating on her. Whether those accusations are right or not, I can understand him feeling in a very dark place about it being out in the open along with the prospect of losing a lot of income he worked hard to generate. It's a shame he didn't feel he could seek help for what he was feeling, but I also know from my own experience with depression and others who have dealt with it that being open about it is not easy.
As sad as this situation is, I do hope that we can have a more open discussion about mental health going forward. I've noticed that many media outlets haven't been afraid to say the word suicide where usually they'd keep it vague and post a bunch of phone numbers at the end of the article.