Known affectionately as the "Old Man," Richard Benjamin Harrison was the ever-scowling patriarch
of Pawn Stars, the popular History Channel reality show that tracks the daily dealings
of the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas.
The Old Man passed away on June 25th, 2018, following a long battle with Parkinson's disease.
He was 77 years old.
Beyond the smoky backroom of his buy-and-sell emporium, the beloved great-grandpa led a
colorful life.
He was a born hustler who never missed a chance to make a buck, but he was also one of the
most genuine characters on TV.
Here's a look back at the life of Richard "The Old Man" Harrison.
First good deal
Harrison achieved great success with his shop and his show, but he came from humble beginnings.
Writing in the book License to Pawn, his son Rick wrote that his parents were ...
"dirt-poor white trash, left to survive on their wits for the most part."
The Old Man started making money early, getting a gig driving a school bus at just 14 years
old which was apparently legal at the time in rural North Carolina.
He also got into a bit of legal trouble.
At 17, he was busted for stealing a car and given the choice of entering the military
or going to jail.
Not wanting to get stuck in North Carolina, he went off to see the world.
Old Man and the sea
After Harrison enlisted in the Navy, he served from 1958 until 1979.
He spent 14 years of that time on active duty, deploying all over the world.
Looking back on his life, he later said his favorite places were the Spanish ports of
Barcelona and Madrid.
The Old Man ultimately retired from the Navy to help his wife JoAnne raise their sons,
Joe, Rick, and Chris, once they became teenagers and, quote, "too much to handle."
But he always looked back fondly on his Navy years, later saying that he would have spent
another ten years in the service if he could.
"If I had to do it all over again I'd do the same thing.
it was a great life."
A born hustler
Anyone who's watched the Old Man work on Pawn Stars knows that the family's art of the hustle
came straight from the top.
The Old Man was as ruthless a negotiator as Rick, Corey, and Chumlee, his skills coming
from a life spent scraping up a buck at every possible opportunity.
While he was in the Navy, Harrison turned a tidy side profit by running a payday loan
service for his fellow sailors, loaning them cash between paychecks with interest, of course.
"Where's my damn money?"
The Old Man also ran blackjack games out of his room.
Instead of playing, he acted as the dealer, raking in cash and sometimes collateral.
As his son Rick later put it,
"The Old Man was a pawnbroker before he was a pawnbroker."
Betting it all
Freshly retired from the Navy, Harrison and his family ended up in San Diego in 1979.
He joined his wife JoAnne in a real estate business, but the housing market proved hard
to wrangle.
According to the Old Man, he suffered financial setbacks during his time in San Diego, saying,
"I should have declared bankruptcy in '81, but I didn't.
I lost a fortune."
Faced with skyrocketing interest rates during an early '80s recession, Harrison decided
to pack up the family and move to Las Vegas in an effort to turn his side hustle, selling
gold and silver, into a small business.
"When I retired from the navy I had to do something. I didn't want to work for anybody else."
It took years to break through Las Vegas' bureaucracy and acquire a pawnbroker's license,
but the work paid off in 1989 with the establishment of the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn shop.
It's a business that turned the Harrisons into millionaires.
"Work is in my blood"
Rick Harrison spoke fondly of his father's work ethic during the production of Pawn Stars,
with the Old Man sticking around on the series even as age and illness crept up on him.
As Rick put it,
"My dad’s the type that would die six months after retiring, so I plan to have him work
here forever, which should keep him alive forever."
The Old Man remained a reliable presence on Pawn Stars up until its 15th season in 2017,
after which he started to appear on the series less and less.
Despite the slowdown of his on-screen appearances, the Old Man never formally took his leave
of the pawn shop.
Though his illness kept him away from the family business, he left a legacy that won't
soon be forgotten.
Eulogizing his father on Instagram, Rick wrote,
"He lived a very full life, and through the History television show Pawn Stars touched
the lives of people all over, teaching them the value of loving your family, hard work
and humor."
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