Friday, September 11, 2009

Rest In Peace Tribute to Power Ranger Cast Members

Thuy Trang
December 14, 1973(1973-12-14) - September 3, 2001
She was born Saigon, South Vietnam. Her dad was a soldier in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). Fearing for his life, he fled South Vietnam and was given political asylum by the U.S. In 1975 the rest of the family (Thuy, her mom, two brothers and a sister) were forced to flee Saigon and in 1979 they secretly boarded a cargo ship along with others traveling to Hong Kong, with the ultimate aim of reaching the U.S. She graduated from Banning High School and earned a scholarship to study civil engineering at the University of California, Irvine. Trang died in a car accident at the age of 27 on September 3, 2001.

Erik Frank
October 14, 1971 - April 16, 2001
Jason David Frank's (Tommy) older brother died of an unspecified illness around the same time Thuy Trang died, five months apart but Jason couldn't go to Thuy's funeral. He played Tommy's brother David Trueheart, in several episodes of Power Rangers Zeo. He was 29.

Richard Genelle
October 12, 1961 - December 30, 2008
He played Ernie from 1993-1997, Genelle died following a heart attack in 2008. He was 47.
More here.
(1961-10-12

Machiko Soga
March 18, 1938 - May 7, 2006
The legendary Machiko Soga, best known to Americans as Rita Repulsa, she played Queen Hedrian in Denshi Sentai Denziman and Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan, witch Bandora in Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, Queen Pandora in Jikuu Senshi Spielban, Raraba in Episode 30 of Maskman, and Magiel the Queen of the Sky Saints in Mahou Sentai Magiranger. She was fighting pancreatic cancer for almost two years. She was 68.


UPDATED 8/13/10 5PM EST

Peta Rutter
1959 – July 20, 2010
She passed away in July 2010, after being diagnosed with a brain tumor. She portrayed the mentor Udonna/White Mystic Ranger.

4 comments:

Dizzy said...

A bizarre thing - I think that Thuy was either filming or had finished filming an installment of THE CROW and then died in a car accident.

That series is cursed, I tell ya.

Anonymous said...

how sad...udonna dead....

Unknown said...

Thuy Trang was a villain in The Crow: City of Angels which was released in 1996. She died in 2001.

Rebecca Marie said...

I knee about trini Rita and Ernie but I didn't know about udonna. Also Richie died another the guy that did rito I think...... Don't quote me