- Pawn Stars has been on TV since 2009
- It used to star Richard "Old Man" Harrison
- This is why "The Old Man" left the show
For a long time, "The Old Man" was a fixture on Pawn Stars. He was the dry but expert businessman who ran TV's most famous pawn shop with his son Rick Harrison. But one day, "The Old Man" stopped appearing on the popular show. Why is that?
Why "The Old Man" disappeared from Pawn Stars
"The Old Man" was seen on Pawn Stars up until season 8, and his last episode was in 2015. After that, we didn't hear much about the elder Harrison, but Pawn Stars carried on.
Soon after, a rumour spread that Harrison had died, but that was premature. There was also speculation that he may have suffered a stroke or had simply retired. And a Pawn Stars episode finally confirmed his retirement in 2017.
The sad news came a year later. In 2018, Richard Benjamin "The Old Man" Harrison passed away. Only then was it revealed that he'd been dealing with Parkinson's Disease.
His son Rick announced the devastating loss, noting that his father was "surrounded by those he loved" when he died. Harrison was 77.
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Rick Harrison paid tribute after death of "The Old Man"
In a tribute after his father's death, Rick Harrison wrote on Instagram: "He will be tremendously missed by our family, the team at Gold & Silver Pawn and his many fans the world over. He was my hero and I was fortunate to get a very cool 'Old Man' as my dad."
Pawn Stars also aired a special tribute episode to "The Old Man" in 2018. It served as the season 15 finale.
Rick Harrison and his father opened the family pawn shop in 1989. Rick, who has three sons of his own, continues to run the successful business and Pawn Stars TV show to this day.
