User:Nickjlopez/sandbox

History
The Power Rangers Curse is a Hollywood myth that began circulating in 2015 on humor and pop culture websites such as Cracked, and World of Wonder. Amongst the many “where are they now” clickbait articles circulating the internet, the Power Rangers franchise stands out due to the outrageous number of tragedies surrounding it’s cast. The unfortunate circumstances include premature deaths, automobile accidents, and two murder cases. In all, at least fourteen deaths have been associated with the franchise sparking rumors of a curse. Actors rumored to have died due to the alleged curse include: Thuy Trang, Erik Frank, Richard Rabago, Maurice Mendoza, Richard Genelle, and Robert L. “Bob” Manahan.

Accidents
Walter Emanuel Jones Jones played the character of Zach Taylor, the original "Black Power Ranger" in the Power Rangers series. He was written out of the series midway through the second season, after a contract and pay dispute. Rumors circulated that Jones lost his finger on set.

Deaths
Erik Frank:

Died of a unspecified illness on April 16th, 2001. Played Tommy Oliver’s (Jason David Frank, the most prolific actor in the Power Rangers universe who has reclaimed his role of Oliver time and time again. He has been the Green Ranger created by Rita Repulsa from Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, the White ranger in Power Rangers: Zeo and the Red Ranger in Power Rangers: Turbo. He even had a cameo in the new 2016 Power Rangers movie) older brother David Trueheart in Power Rangers: Zeo. When his brother died, Frank could not attend the funeral of fellow Power Rangers cohort Thuy Trang, whose funeral was happening around the same time that Erik Frank’s death had occurred.

Thuy Trang:

First victim of the Power Rangers curse. She was born on December 14, 1973 in Saigon, South Vietnam (now known as Ho Chi Minh City). Trang was a part of the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers cast as the Yellow Ranger Trini Kwan. Trang was a part of the franchise through eighty episodes (two seasons) and one Power Rangers movie. She had left the show along with other castmates who were 2 of her close friends, Austin St. John and Walter Emanuel Jones. They all left because of contractual payment disputes. After she had left Power Rangers, the Yellow Ranger was replaced with Karen Ashley. Trang had appearances in other movies and TV shows after her long run on the popular kids show. However, her life was cut short in the form of a fatal car accident in San Francisco. It was September 3, 2001 when Thuy Trang was in the passenger seat of a car with friend and fellow actress Angela Rockwood when the car crashed into a roadside cliff and flipped over several times before breaking the guard rail and fall off. Rockwood is now a quadriplegic because of the accident.

Members of the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers cast attended Thuy Trang’s funeral except for Jason David Frank (Green Ranger), who sent his regards instead because his brother (Erik Frank) and another Power Rangers cast member had recently died as well. Trang was cremated on September 10, 2001 and her ashes are now at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whitter, California.

Controversy

However, in 2016, during the release of the new Power Rangers movie, the team in charge of marketing had made a joke in poor taste about Thuy Trang’s car crash on some of the promo posters of the Yellow Ranger, Trini, on her giant robot. The caption that went with the tweet said “Driver’s Ed not required.” Needless to say, fans were not happy with the mocking of Trang’s death so carelessly.

Richard Rabago

Richard Rabago, a skilled martial arts master who was even legendary in the martial arts world, was a fan favorite among Power Rangers fans as Master Lee. Rabago only appeared once in the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers episode titled, “Plague of the Mantis.” He died of an mysterious unspecified illness at 68 in Cerritos, California. Before his role on the kids television program, Rabago had parts in Even though Rabago only made one appearance in the franchise, the curse still affected him greatly. It shows that the curse affects even the people with the smallest of parts in the television show.

Maurice Mendoza

Mendoza played the potential love interest for Thuy Trang’s character, Trini Kwan, the Yellow Ranger. He worked as lovable teen character Richie who worked at the Angel Grove Youth Center. Even though he was supposed to be Trini’s love interest, he left after the 1994 season. Mendoza was only in the second season He was another castmate that passed away by mysterious circumstances at 39 years old. Mendoza’s role in Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers was the only acting role he ever did in his life before he died. Mendoza is another example of how even if a person has a small part on Power Rangers, whether or not the small part was recurring, they will still be affected by the Power Rangers Curse.

Alissa Ann (Smego) Bigelow Alissa Ann (Smego) Bigelow. played Shawna in the 1994 episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers entitled: Forever Friends. She also started as the host of a web based cooking show called In The Kitchen for several years before becoming a yoga coach. Bigelow, had struggled with mental illness and had previously been hospitalized. On October 5th2013 her body was found in the back of her apartment where it was discovered that she had committed suicide. She was 38 and on the cusp of managing a new Karma Yoga studio that was to open on Newbury Street.

Bob Papenbrook The actor voiced Rito Revolto in the original series, Deviot in Lost Galaxy and played Mike the Fishing Shop Clerk in Wild Force, died of chronic lung complications on March 17, 2006 at the age of 50.

Richard Genelle One of the biggest controversies in Power Rangers history was Richard Michael Genelle’s death in 2008. To understand why this took the power ranger scene by storm we[b] need to first take a look at the filmography of this beloved actor and dive into the reasons why his appearance on Power Rangers from the years of 1993 to 1997 were so influential. As we have seen across the board, Power Rangers is a series that has surpassed the test of time. The series has gone on for decades and there is no end in sight. From movie deals to major toy production sales, Power Rangers is a powerhouse that can not be touched. Many franchises have attempted to recreate what this iconic series has to offer but most all have fallen short of this. In 1993 Richard Genelle took the stage on the season of Power Rangers known as Might Morphin Power Rangers. This series was comprised of 116 episodes for which Richard Genelle was in 104 episodes. It was clear to the production team that the actor was beloved and unchallenged in the character he played, Ernie. Before he joined the series the cast of Power Rangers seemed to be missing the happy go lucky type and when Ernie took the stage in 1993 he filled that void. Richard was an entrepreneur and an actor and was most known for the plethora of science fantasy roles he played in his acting career. When he stepped in as Ernie in 1993 the series saw such a huge outpour of support for his character that he was kept on with a large Hollywood contract (the likes of which most of the Power Ranger actors had not seen) for 4 years. Here is where things get interesting and to some extent creepy. As you[c] have read above there are many connections to the Power Ranger powerhouse series and the mysterious death of multiple cast members, but Richard’s death really brought this to light. Richard shot his final episode of Power Ranger in 1997 on Turo: A Power Rangers Movie[d]. This was a big production film for the Power Rangers series and Richard wanted to provide a big performance before his reign as Ernie was coming to an end. His final scene was shot in Corona, California which is a key part of this somewhat paranormal story. In his final scene as Ernie, Richard is seen to be having a light heart attack or panic as the cameras cut away from him and towards the Power Rangers as they take on “Turbo form”. Exactly 10 years later Richard died in Corona California of a Heart attack when he was visiting family. It wasn’t until a cast member drew the parallels that media picked up on this story and reported it. To this day the spooky death of Richard Genelle which drew such remarkable parallels to the final episode he aired in is an unsolved mystery which most claim to be a simple act of God.

Robert L. "Bob" Manahan Robert Bob Manahan most famously known for his role as Zordon in Power Rangers was a famous American actor who was plucked[e] for this universe at the ripe age of 43. The male actor[f] at the pinnacle of his health and beauty[g] died of a heart attack similar to Richard Genelle, the beloved Ernie. Most family members say that they saw it coming as Robert had avoided visiting the doctor’s and following up on routine procedures for a man of his age, but there is more behind this mystery. As we dive deeper into the death of Robert Manahan we find that this clean cut while actor from Palo Alto, California had a history of cocaine abuse and other soft drugs such as marijuana and various opioids. His wife went on to say that Bob Manahan was a man with big dreams and a bigger heart, but his heart couldn’t outlive the abuse he had put it through in his early 20s when he abused various drugs. Ms. Manahan wasn’t afraid to dive into his past when confronted about a Power Rangers curse in 2009 where she said in an interview that Bob was looking to become a big actor in California and was disappointed when his biggest role to date had been the character of Zordon. Robert wanted to play more meaningful characters in more profound screenplays but unfortunately he was unable to due to his early departure from our heavenly land. Here is where Robert’s death gets interesting. [h]In episode 416 of Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Zordon says to the rangers “you nearly gave me a heart attack rangers.” Many people say that this was foreshadowing of a death to come for the actor. Others argue that this was a line in place for produces and that his death was just an onset of heavy drug abuse as a young twenty year old. To this day his death remains a mystery. One thing is for certain, Zordon was a beloved character and his face and voice will be missed by all who were blessed with the time they had to act alongside Robert Manahan.

Ricardo Medina Jr.

In 2002 Ricardo Medina Jr. appeared as Cole Evans, the Red Lion Wild Force Ranger, in the show Power Rangers Wild Force. He returned to the franchise in 2011 and 2012 as part of Power Rangers Super Samurai, and also had small roles on ER and CSI: Miami, On January 14th2016, Medina was arrested the murder of Joshua Sutter. On March 16th2017, Media plead guilty to one felony count of voluntary manslaughter and received a 6 year prison sentence. He was originally charged with first-degree manslaughter witch carries a sentence of 26 years to life. Prosecutors said Medina had argued with his roommate, 36-year-old Josh Sutter, over Medina’s girlfriend on Jan. 31, 2015, in their Los Angeles County home. They said when the argument became physical, Medina stabbed Sutter multiple times with a sword.Friedman confirmed the weapon was a “large” double-edged sword, but said Medina used it for self-defense.His defense team argued that after he and Sutter had come to blows in another part of the home, the actor locked himself and his girlfriend in his bedroom to get away from Sutter.

Skylar Deleon Skylar Julius Deleon (born John Julius Jacobson, Jr.)is an American former child actor. Deleon began acting in small parts in commercials as a child. At age 14, he appeared in the series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as an uncredited extra in the episode "Second Chance". As an adult, Deleon struggled to remember lines, and his career faltered as a result. At age 20, he joined the United States Marine Corps, but he went on Unauthorized Absence (UA) fifteen days later. He was later given an other than honorable discharge. In 2004 Skylar along with two other men, murdered retired couple Tom and Jackie Hawkes in an attempt to fraudulently steal the couple’s boat which was for sale. Skylar Deleon’s wife Jennifer Henderson, was also convicted with charges of first degree murder for conspiring. It was later discovered that Skylar Deleon was also responsible for murder of Jon Jarvi, whose body was found in Mexico after Deleon had slit his throat and stole $50,000 from the man. On October 20, Deleon was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances for financial gain and multiple victims and on November 6, 2008, the jury recommended the death penalty. On April 10, 2009, Deleon was sentenced to death by Orange County Superior Court Judge Frank Fasel. He is on death row at San Quentin State Prison. In an interview with ABC's 20/20, Deleon indicated that he attempted to cut off his penis because he wanted to be a woman. Defense lawyers claimed that Deleon's need for money to finance a sex-change operation was the motivation for the Hawkses' murders. Deleon said he had long thought about removing his organ. Investigators found evidence in the garage apartment he shared with his wife, Jennifer, that indicated he had been researching the procedure. His wife's trial attorney told "20/20" Deleon often wore women's clothes and was determined to be a female. During the interview Deleon was quick to point out that he's straight, and that even though he wanted to be a woman, he also wanted to continue his relationship with his wife. "I'm not attracted to guys," he said. "But I wanted the surgery, and I knew I 100 percent wanted the surgery. But I only like females." Deleon said he avoided the surgery for a long time because he wanted his daughter to "have the most normal life possible" and didn't want to "mix her up." In the end Deleon said he and his wife decided he would go forward with the sexual reassignment surgery one day. But when Deleon was convicted for murder, and jailed, he knew that day would never come. "I'll do it myself," he recalled thinking. He hoped that if he became female he would be moved into a women's prison because, "I get along a lot better with females than I do with the guys." As Deleon tried to cut off his penis, he said the prison deputies stopped him right away, rushed into his jail cell and brought him to the hospital. "[The deputies] got me too quick," he said. "And it's a lot harder to cut than you think." It didn't hurt, he said, not until afterward. "Unfortunately," Deleon said, he is still a man.

Miscellaneous
Valerie Anne Vernon Valerie Anne Vernon played Kendrix Morgan, on The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy. While working on the show, Vernon was diagnosed with Leukemia. It is speculated that Vernon may have known about the curse. She stopped working after her diagnosis and recovered once she distanced herself from the show.

David Yost

David Yost played Billy Cranston the Blue Ranger, on The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Yost revealed in a 2010 interview that he suffered at the hands of bullying from the show’s production crew over his sexual orientation, who he claims told him he “could not be a superhero” because he was homosexual. Yost quit and tried to ‘pray the gay away’ with conversion therapy for two years before having a nervous breakdown which required five weeks of psychiatric care.