I didn't realize that many actors had that kind of a history with the franchise. Other than JDF, I thought pretty much everyone else had done one or two seasons and then been done with it.
Not that many, really, if you discount the odd anniversary-episode guest spot. Jason Frank was a regular for most of MMPR, all of
Zeo, and the first half of
Turbo, then came back about 7 years later as a regular in
Dino Thunder, and has made a couple of guest appearances since. Paul Schrier was a regular for the first 7 seasons, then came back a dozen years later to be a regular in
Samurai. Jason Narvy was a regular for the first 6 seasons and had a handful of later cameos. Then there's Kelson Henderson's multiple roles, as mentioned above. John Tui also appeared in two consecutive seasons in different roles, as Cruger in
S.P.D. and Daggeron in
Mystic Force. And Holly Shanahan was Leelee in
Mystic Force and Camille two years later in
Jungle Fury. Michelle Langstone was Kat in
S.P.D. and Master Guin in
Jungle Fury, but the latter was only a 3-time guest appearance, not a second regular gig.
There's also Ricardo Medina, Jr., who was the Red Ranger Cole in
Wild Force and the anti-villain swordsman Deker in
Samurai 9 years apart (and who's currently in prison for committing voluntary manslaughter with a sword, creepily enough).
By that definition you're almost right (Amy Jo Johnson holds the record if we go by duration from first to last appearance until new new reunion episode airs)
Well, I wouldn't count the movie, since she wasn't playing Kimberly, just cameoing as a random citizen. I only threw in Frank's movie appearance as a side mention because it didn't affect the answer to the question.
but I prefer number of appearances, to me it feels a bit more significant than being at the top of the list because you show up on set every few years for a single appearance.
It's not about my own preference, just my literal-minded effort to answer the question exactly as
JD posed it, which was who had the
longest history.
