• May 08, 1995
• Vol. 43
• No. 18

Jason Frank

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From PEOPLE Magazine

HE HAS THICK, FLOWING HAIR, A TENDER FACE and eyelashes long enough to set a Guinness record. But Jason Frank is no teen idol. He can't be. His fans are in preschool. As any 4-year-old can tell you, Frank, 21, plays Tommy the White Ranger on the Fox phenom Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Last year, Tommy lost his power, and Frank was about to be axed—until thousands of letters poured in to save him. Being admired by these young children, says Frank, "is cool."

Until two years ago, though, Frank didn't even have the power to push through a casting agent's door. The son of Ray and Janice Frank, who operate a Covina, Calif., trucking company, Jason began auditioning for roles at age 12, but, he says, "I just never landed anything." He concentrated instead on martial arts and by 18 owned two karate schools. His black belt gave him the edge in his Power Rangers audition. It was only later that Fox execs realized they had a hunk on their hands. "Visitors to the set go crazy when they see Jason," says his costar Karan Ashley, who plays the Yellow Ranger. "The little girls just scream. And I've seen 16-year-olds looking at him too. They say, 'Oh, my God. What is he like?' "

He is, like, married. Jason and wife Shawna, 23, a homemaker, are the parents of 21-month-old Jacob. Perhaps as Frank outgrows the Rangers, adults will come to appreciate what children already do. "My dream," he says, "has always been to be the next Bruce Lee."