The The life
“Pawn Stars” is an unlikely televi- sion hit, and it’s also one of the most popular shows on cable. Only MTV’s “Jersey Shore” had more viewers last year. It’s so popular, in fact, that cable channel History, the network that car- ries it, has already spun off two shows from it — “American Restorations” and “Cajun Pawn Stars.” And in its wake, plenty of copycat pawn-based shows have begun to spring up on other cable outlets, too.
Shot on location in Las Vegas at the World Famous Gold and Silver Pawn Shop on Las Vegas Boulevard, the show revolves around three family members and one employee. Since it’s Vegas, think of a deck of cards. Austin “Chumlee” Russell — the employee — is the Joker. Corey “Big Hoss” Harrison, the third generation of the family in the pawn business, is heir to the King, and his card would be the Jack. Corey’s dad, Rick Har- rison, is the King. But the Ace, in fact the man who holds all the aces in the business, is Rick’s dad, 72-year-old Richard Harrison — a.k.a. the Old Man. It’s a moniker he’s held since the tender age of 38.
The Old Man is gruff, colorful and always at the ready with an observa- tion or a quip. And he’s an unlikely
and cars of Richard “The Old Man” Harrison By Dave Kinney
television celebrity. “I have to give my son credit,” he says. “He kept hammering on getting the show. Rick pitched it for four years. They said no one wanted to watch a show about four fat guys running a pawn shop. Well, we proved them wrong. Our show is on in 150 countries. They even have different names for the shows. I went online and saw it once, there I was speaking Japanese, Chinese.”
PAWN CARS
The shop buys about 12 to 15 cars a year, though not all of them make it onto the show. And like his co-stars, the Old Man is a car guy. He currently owns a 1963 Chrysler Imperial four- door, a 1966 Imperial convertible, a 1962 Cadillac Sedan deVille, a 1957 Chevrolet 150, a 1955 Ford F100 pickup and a 1937 Oldsmobile.
Quite clearly, the Old Man likes ’em big and American. “I guess my favorite is my ’62 Cadillac,” he says. He’s owned the car for 18 years. “The ’62 Caddy, the ’63 and ’66 Imperials, they’re land yachts. They’ve got the turning radius of the Enterprise.” The Old Man should know; he spent his first career in the U.S. Navy.
“I kicked around the Navy 21 years and then left September 1, 1979,”
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he says. “I was always what I call a street hustler. I’d go to pawn shops and secondhand stores. I was always buying or selling. I was always looking for a bar- gain.” While he was stationed in San Diego in the early 1960s, he bought several cars at government auctions. “I had a friend who lived in Tijuana and I used to buy a lot of station wagons and take them down to Tijuana. They became taxi cabs.”
As you might expect from a man who successfully buys and sells other people’s treasures, the
PHOTO: HARRISON FAMILY
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