Richard Benjamin Harrison Jr.

 Richard Benjamin Harrison Jr. (March 4, 1941 – June 25, 2018)

He was a businessman and reality television personality, best known as the co-owner of the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, as featured on the History Channel series Pawn Stars. Harrison was the co-owner of the pawn shop with his son Rick Harrison. They opened the store together in 1989. Harrison was usually referred to by his nickname, "The Old Man", which he earned at the age of 38. Harrison served in the U.S. Navy for 20 years, he signed up initially to avoid serving jail time for stealing an automobile. In 1967 Harrison was transferred by the Navy to San Diego, California. He continued to serve in the Navy, while his wife JoAnne obtained her real estate license in 1970 and opened her own office in 1973. After Harrison was discharged from the Navy, he worked part-time in his wife's office. Declining real estate sales caused by interest rates as high as 18 percent cost Harrison $1,000,000 and the collapse of this business in 1981. In April 1981, Harrison and his wife, having only $5,000 left, moved with their three sons to Las Vegas, Nevada, where Harrison and his son Rick opened Gold & Silver Coin Shop in a 300 square foot shop at 1501 Las Vegas Boulevard. In 1986, he relocated the business to a larger building at 413 Fremont Street. In 1987, he obtained a license to buy and sell second-hand goods. The business lease expired in 1988.

In 1989, Rick opened what would become the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop at 713 Las Vegas Boulevard South, located less than two miles from the Las Vegas Strip. From July 19, 2009 until his death, Harrison and his son Rick, along with his grandson Richard Corey "Big Hoss" Harrison and Corey's childhood friend and employee Austin "Chumlee" Russell, had been starred in the reality television program Pawn Stars on the History Channel. Harrison and the other stars of Pawn Stars served as grand marshals for the History 300 NASCAR race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26, 2012. Harrison died on June 25, 2018 at age 77, after a battle with Parkinson's disease. He is buried at Palm Memorial Park Northwest in Las Vegas, Nevada.