Jimmy Kimmel Breaks Into Tears During Uncle Frank Tribute (Video)

"Listen, I'm gonna try to do this without crying, but I'm probably gonna fail," he told his audience.

10:45 PM PDT 9/6/2011 by Kimberly Nordyke

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Jimmy Kimmel couldn't contain his emotions while paying tribute to his late uncle Frank Potenza on Tuesday night.

During a segment on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live, the late-night host choked up almost immediately when he started talking about Potenza, his security guard and on-air contributor, who died Aug. 20.

"Listen, I'm gonna try to do this without crying, but I'm probably gonna fail," he told his audience. "But just turn away or something, because it's embarrassing. It really is."

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Kimmel told his viewers stories about how Potenza never wanted to be late for anything and in fact would show up "10, 11, 12" hours early for the show's taping.

STORY: Jimmy Kimmel's Uncle Frank Tribute: What Fans Say

"It's hard to believe he's now the 'late' Uncle Frank because he was never ever late for anything," Kimmel quipped.

Kimmel noted that Potenza had a "few different kinds of cancer" and doctors aren't sure which one actually led to his death at age 77.

According to Kimmel, Potenza had hoped to live another quarter-century.

STORY: Jimmy Kimmel’s Uncle Frank Potenza Dies

"His plan was to live to 103," he said. "He wanted to be oldest living retired police officer in New York City not because he wanted to set a record or be in the paper; he just wanted to stick them for another 25 years of pension checks."

Later in the segment, Kimmel became unable to fight back his tears while talking about Potenza's final days in the hospital, where he was surrounded by family.

"Uncle Frank loved being a part of this show," he said before showing a video montage of his relative. "And I wanna say thanks to my co-workers who talked to him and visited him and picked him up 12 hours early for work. He loved you. And thanks to all of you who came to the show and watched, for indulging me and letting me put my crazy uncle on television."

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Don Rickles also appeared on Tuesday night's show as part of the special tribute.

Earlier in the day, Kimmel tweeted about the upcoming segment: "Thanks to all for the nice tweets about my Uncle Frank - we'll pay tribute tonight with his favorite guest @DonRickles."

Several people in Hollywood also chimed in Tuesday on Twitter:

Dwayne Johnson: "My condolences @jimmykimmel. I loved Uncle Frank and was blessed to know him. Stay strong brother."

VIDEO: Uncle Frank’s 5 Funniest Moments on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’

Roastmaster Jeffrey Ross: "Gonna try not to cry watching the Uncle Frank tribute on @JimmyKimmelLive tonight."

Music producer Jermaine Dupri: "Rip Uncle Frank."

New Kids on the Block member Jordan Knight: "Watching Jimmy Kimmel talk about his Uncle Frank who passed...very touching ...and funny actually..."

Publicist Lewis Kay: "I strongly urge everyone to watch @jimmykimmel tonight for a touching tribute to #UncleFrank. You will cry."

Joel McHale (retweeting Kay's message): "Agreed."