Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Dig a Hole: Jimmy Kimmel's Uncle, Frank Potenza

Every obituary I've read of Frank Potenza invariably includes the word "beloved" in the opening paragraph. It's a privilege to echo the sentiment and follow the flock for a change.

Earnestly blithe former New York City cop, Frank Potenza, best know as Uncle Frank on his nephew Jimmy Kimmel's late night talk show, has mangled his last syllable. He died peacefully in a hospital Tuesday morning at age 77.

Not since the passing of former Letterman flunky Calvert DeForest (aka Larry 'Bud' Melman) has an unlikely celebrity sidekick expressed such an innate inability to memorize lines, read off cue cards, and display proper mike handling technique. You never knew what you were going to get with Uncle Frank, and he always delivered.

After a stint in the Korean War, Uncle Frank joined New York's Finest where he pounded a lower Manhattan beat for two decades. Kimmel told the New York Daily News his uncle later worked security at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on a special detail that regularly guarded Frank Sinatra. Before moving to Los Angeles and becoming a fixture on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live, the saintly Uncle Frank worked as a security guard at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Kimmel Tweeted the following: "Thank you for your kind words about a very kind man. RIP Uncle Frank, his comic timing took a lifetime to earn. Today I eat cake for him."

Uncle Frank is survived by his wife, Concetta Potenza, three daughters, and 7-month-old granddaughter Franki, named in his honor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5erFwNaLPy0&feature=related

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

The danger of San Diego's hoarders

The $1 million Flash Comics #1

Every obituary I've read of Frank Potenza invariably includes the word "beloved" in the opening paragraph. It's a privilege to echo the sentiment and follow the flock for a change.

Earnestly blithe former New York City cop, Frank Potenza, best know as Uncle Frank on his nephew Jimmy Kimmel's late night talk show, has mangled his last syllable. He died peacefully in a hospital Tuesday morning at age 77.

Not since the passing of former Letterman flunky Calvert DeForest (aka Larry 'Bud' Melman) has an unlikely celebrity sidekick expressed such an innate inability to memorize lines, read off cue cards, and display proper mike handling technique. You never knew what you were going to get with Uncle Frank, and he always delivered.

After a stint in the Korean War, Uncle Frank joined New York's Finest where he pounded a lower Manhattan beat for two decades. Kimmel told the New York Daily News his uncle later worked security at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on a special detail that regularly guarded Frank Sinatra. Before moving to Los Angeles and becoming a fixture on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live, the saintly Uncle Frank worked as a security guard at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Kimmel Tweeted the following: "Thank you for your kind words about a very kind man. RIP Uncle Frank, his comic timing took a lifetime to earn. Today I eat cake for him."

Uncle Frank is survived by his wife, Concetta Potenza, three daughters, and 7-month-old granddaughter Franki, named in his honor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5erFwNaLPy0&feature=related

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Those That Cannot Do--Protest (or make cruddy movies)!

Next Article

KFMB's Elisabeth Kimmel caught in Georgetown admission bribe

$244,000 allegedly paid to tennis coach Gordie Ernst
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader