Jay Leno shared poignant memories of his father with his "Tonight Show" audience, shedding a tear as he promised, "We'll fight the good fight, Pop."
Leno took his seat as usual after Monday night's monologue, then explained that his father had died Wednesday at 83 after months in the hospital.Angelo Leno, his son said, was a real up-by-the-bootstraps New Yorker who toiled as a mechanic, truck driver, boxer and insurance salesman.
"Nobody was brought up righter than I was," said Leno, whose mother died a year ago.
Leno fondly recalled how his father chose the toughest neighborhoods to sell insurance in, including Harlem and Spanish Harlem. He said he still has the 78s his dad used to learn Spanish.
Leno said an elderly woman wrote him once to ask if his father was the same Angelo Leno who had dinner at her house when she was a child. She said the senior Leno was the first white man ever invited to dine with the family.
Leno's voice broke as he recalled the impression his father made on that little girl.
"There are people who just do the right thing," Leno said. "For whatever reason, they don't ask for any reward. My dad never told me this story about this lady. They just know what to do, the right thing."