Jimmy Kimmel’s “Uncle Frank” on his regular night time talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live and real life uncle, Frank Potenza passed away today in LA at the age of 77. His nephew (Jimmy Kimmel) told reporters that the cause was cancer.
Though he never performed many security guard duties for Kimmel, he deservedly wore the uniform of one. He was a Korean war veteran, served for 20 years as a police officer in New York and later became a security guard at Caesars Palace in Nevada.
He even worked as a personal security guard for none other than Frank Sinatra.
He had a blustery humor to him that was just so obvious and hilarious. Everything from his voice to his hand gestures to his bewildered facial expressions…
We will all miss his presence on the show, however often or little he appeared on it. The news of his passing brings to mind the image of him and Guillermo standing side by side on that ABC Studios’ stage, one we will not easily forget.
And of course we’ll remember his segments – Geographer Frank, Meteorologist Uncle Frank, Professor Uncle Frank and ask Dr. Uncle Frank.
In January of 2009, the Kimmel show lost another security guard to cancer who appeared occasionally in segments, Veatrice Rice, known for fondly calling everyone a dumbass. (Loved her)
[Every Uncle Frank skit = mass applause]
