ConnectiCon 2014: Power Rangers Panel

Hanna Lafferty ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Books Section Editor
Tori DeYeso ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Videographer
ConnectiCon held a Power Rangers Panel on Friday with guest Walter Jones, who played the Black Power Ranger, Zack Taylor in the nineties Mighty Morphin Power Rangers show. Jones began acting in Detroit’s Central High School and attended the School of Performing Arts in San Diego, where he studied dance and musical theater. He worked as an entertainer and an assistant cruise director on the Princess Cruise Line before moving to Hollywood and working at The Wild, Wild, Wild West Stunt Show and Beetlejuice’s Rock and Roll Graveyard Revue. Jones was on his way to participate in Star Search when he received a call to audition for Power Rangers.
It was kind of “wacky,” he said. But a year later, Power Rangers’ merchandise filled stores. Jones was convinced of the Power Ranger’s lasting impact on pop culture after seeing the original Power Rangers wrist communicators on the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch commercial, alongside Star Trek’s and the Jetson’s communicators. “When I first saw that commercial, I thought ‘We are in good company’,” he added. While Jones has also acted in prominent television shows like Moesha, CSI, and The Shield, he isn’t bothered that most people recognize him as Zach, “because the experience can’t be compared.” “I’ve got comics, video games, trading cards…it [Mighty Morphin Power Rangers] aired in forty different countries.” Check out Emertainment’s video of the panel to see Walter Jones share his favorite moment from the series, and watch him dance-battle a fan!