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Jimmy Kimmel’s ‘Uncle Frank’ Potenza Dies

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Uncle Frank has left the building.

Frank Potenza, a retired cop and security guard who found late-life fame on his nephew Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night TV show, has died at 77, according to ABC.

‘Uncle Frank’ was among the first regular characters introduced on ABC’s ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ in 2003. Kimmel asked Potenza, a former security guard at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, to move to Los Angeles to take part in the show.

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Potenza was frequently used in comedy bits or reaction shots, often to provide a dose of common sense or merely a puzzled shrug to the proceedings.

‘His kindness and humor will be missed by everyone he touched,’ the show said in a statement Tuesday.

ABC did not provide a cause of death or specify when Potenza died. He is survived by three daughters and a newborn granddaughter.

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-- Scott Collins (twitter.com/scottcollinsLAT)

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