Karan Ashley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Karan Ashley (born Karan Ashley Jackson September 28, 1975 in Odessa, Texas) is an American actress who has acted for many years. She graduated from David W. Carter High School in Dallas, Texas. Her first acting job was in the series Kenan and Kel (with Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell). She left that role to play Aisha Campbell, the second Yellow Ranger in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, replacing Thuy Trang (Trini). Staying on for two years, Karan left the show in 1996, when she was replaced by Nakia Burrise (Tanya) for Power Rangers: Zeo. Her last Power Rangers appearance was in the finale for the third season of the series.
Aisha was the first African American female Yellow Power Ranger, this would be repeated in Power Rangers: Zeo with Tanya Sloan and again in Power Rangers: Time Force with Katie Walker.
Since then, Karan has made guest appearances in TV shows such as Hangin' With Mr. Cooper and The Parkers, just to name a few, and acted in a few minor films like Taylor's Wall. Her first big debut as director and executive producer was the independent film Devon's Ghost: The Curse of Bloody Boy, alongside fellow Power Ranger alumnus Johnny Yong Bosch and executive producer Koichi Sakamoto for Gag Order Films, Inc.
[edit] Trivia
- Karan maintains a close friendship with Johnny Yong Bosch to this day
- In an interview at Rangerboard.com Karan reveals that her decision to leave the series was because of the demanding hours. She also reveals that she was to be given an exiting story arc, just as Amy Jo Johnson was, but instead, following time off while her character was reduced to a child for some time in the third season, she would find that she was not asked to return to the set, as her character's recovery would not require her to appear on screen.