Rick Harrison is a reality television star from the United States who owns the Gold and Silver Pawnshop in Las Vegas, Nevada. Harrison and his father founded the store in 1989. Still, he has been the only owner since Richard “Old Man” Harrison died in 2018.
When it was the highest-rated show on the channel and the second-ranked reality show in the United States. The series depicts the interactions between the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop’s employees and their customers.
Clients bring expensive antiquities and other stuff to be assessed and sold or pawned. Throughout the event, you can see some consumers try to bargain or wrangle over the value of the things. Harrison also takes the time to describe each piece’s history.
Harrison has three boys from his first two marriages and has been married three times in his personal life. His most recent marriage was to Deanna Burditt in 2013. Burditt has three daughters and has been married twice before Harrison. He has collected some fantastic items throughout the years, which he has displayed in his home.
Continue reading to learn more about Harrison, his Las Vegas property, and how he lives off the grid for much of the year.
Before starting his pawn shop, his father served in the United States Navy. Harrison began having epileptic seizures as a child at the age of eight. This ailment would restrict him to bed for extended periods, leading to Harrison’s lifelong passion for reading.
His father’s death crushed Harrison and the rest of the “Pawn Stars” crew. “I think about him every day,” he told Fox News. I had a distinct dynamic with him. When most people reach the age of 18, they go to school, obtain a job, and move out. I’ve been working with my father since I was a child. Because of me, he stayed in the Navy for many years. Otherwise, my medical expenditures would have made things quite tricky. Despite this, he never treated me differently.”
Harrison praises his father and thanks him for teaching him many important things throughout his life. “He completely altered my outlook on life and the meaning of words.
That was one of the essential life lessons he ever taught me… He was simply a wonderful person. He emphasised that no matter what, you must always look after your children and family. If you have children, you are a father for the rest of your life. “He was the kind of old-school man I think we need more of,” Harrison remarked.
According to the History Channel, Harrison dropped out of high school in the ninth grade to pursue his $2,000-a-week business selling knockoff Gucci bags. When he was 13, he started working in pawnshops and earned enough money to start his own business with his father when he was 23.
Harrison married his high school girlfriend Kim when he was 17, and the couple produced two boys named Corey and Adam. Sadly, they split soon after Adam was born.
Tracy assisted in the care of Corey and Adam, and she and Harrison shared a son, Jake. Tracy and Harrison were married until 2011, when they divorced.
The Gold and Silver Pawn Shop:
The Gold and Silver Pawn Shop launched for operation in 1989 after finally acquiring their long-awaited pawn licence.
Harrison and his father had previously launched the Gold and Silver Coin Shop, but they thought establishing a pawning business was a natural continuation for their firm.
NPR asked the celebrity how the pawning business worked. “Say you have a wedding band,” Harrison added. You deliver the wedding band to my shop. I will make you an offer of $100, which you accept. I will hand you the $100 and a pawn ticket. You have 120 days to return to my pawn business, pick up your items, and pay me back.”
Harrison went on to say:
“If you return in 30 days, you pay me $115. I return the ring to you, and everything is fine in the world. Nothing is recorded on your credit report. Nobody hunts you down to break your legs or anything. You simply need to find your stuff. It’s as easy as that.”
There are numerous problems to running a pawn shop, one of which is buying or selling stolen property. Harrison elaborated:
“Most people don’t realise how tightly controlled the pawn industry is, especially where I live in Nevada. I just don’t take an ID when I pawn something or buy something. I ask for their driver’s licence number, height, weight, eye colour, and build. That is forwarded to the local police agency, and it is also forwarded to Homeland Security. It’s part of the Patriot Act, and the information is sent to a centralised database online that searches for stolen products across the United States.”
Harrison also told NPR that he once paid $40,000 for a set of stolen earrings and then had to return them to their rightful owner, leaving him out of pocket.
“It’s the price of doing business. That’s how I look at it… And Las Vegas can be a crazy place at times. I get a lot of expensive goods. So you must be aware of huge diamonds and really pricey watches. “It’s a lot different than most locations,” Harrison explained.
The businessman also stated that he has never regretted making or not completing any previous transactions.
Harrison noted to Fox News:
You can’t say, ‘Maybe I should have got this or that.’ It’s a necessary evil. It is sometimes required to be willing to walk away from a terrible bargain.”
The ‘Pawn Stars’:
“Pawn Stars” has aired 577 episodes throughout 17 seasons. The show is top-rated and has fans from all over the world. The pawnshop employees have become superstars in their own right. Harrison told Fox News why he believes the show has been so successful:
“I believe it is a combination of factors. To begin with, most reality shows are heavily scripted. Mine, however, is not. And it varies from week to week. And while people want to learn, they don’t want to feel like they’re sitting in a classroom with a professor. On the show, I teach all of the history lessons and make learning fun.”
Harrison isn’t tired of making the show even after all these years. He said he would continue to make it “as long as it’s fun and remains a blast.”
“One of the best things about my programme is that it never stops being intriguing,” he remarked. It never ceases to amaze me. We might come upon a personal printing press from the 1890s one day and Viking jewellery the next. Maybe in 20 years, I’ll be too old to keep doing it, but it puts everything I love together for now. “The opportunity to showcase these historical items keeps me going.”
Harrison also stated that most customers who come into the business and agree to appear on the show are not there to pawn. He elaborated:
“People who pawn stuff never want to come on the show, and that’s because when they pawn something, they’re obtaining a loan and have to admit they’re broke.” When people sell anything, it is a financial transaction that is simply interpreted differently.”
Private Life:
In 2012, Harrison announced his engagement to Deanna Burditt. In an interview with People magazine that year, he expressed his delight over the concentration, saying, “I’m the happiest guy alive. “I’m living my fantasy.”
Harrison proposed to Burditt.
Like a particular TV family, the couple appears to be a match made or Hollywood. “It’s symmetrical,” Harrison added. “I have three sons. She has three daughters.
The couple hired, but Harrison quipped that he did most of the planning. “I had no idea. “I just assumed you grabbed a cake, held a party, and bought a keg,” he explained.
On July 21, 2013, the couple married in Laguna Beach, California. There were 180 people in attendance, including various show stars and other History Channel staff. Chumlee was rumoured to be the ring bearer, and other aspects of the ceremony may have been considered unconventional. Danny Koker from the reality show “Counting Cars” officiated the wedding.
Harrison lives in Las Vegas for most of the year, but he spends five months in the rough highlands of Oregon.
He has completely transformed his space. Harrison has transformed the ranch into his heaven. This mansion is entirely off-grid, thanks to Battle Born Batteries. According to the corporation, Harrison has 48 high-capacity batteries that assist in powering his ranch, hydropower plant, and workshop.
Living in the bush is serene but has its own set of obstacles. Harrison stated that he must maintain a chainsaw in the bed of his vehicle to deal with fallen trees on the road. Harrison, who has been an off-road enthusiast for most of his life, stated that only one truck suited the task: the 2018 Ford F-150 Raptor.
Las Vegas Home:
Harrison opened his doors for a house tour after deciding to sell his property. That’s a 200-year-old door, a 150-year-old door, and an 800-year-old window all in one.” He said this while pointing to a 12th-century stained glass window he purchased for $400 from a scrap yard in California several years ago and is now worth $35,000.
“The fireplace, as well as the majority of the crown moulding and doors, are coated with automotive paint. It costs $500 to $1,500 per gallon, and you can’t get such hues with standard colour.
The renovation of their lovely home became a family affair. “My wife is a fantastic designer, and I can’t sit around doing nothing,” Harrison explained. “We did some amazing work on this place.” They also added a lazy river to the backyard pool.
Another eye-catching modification is the flooring in the formal sitting room, which is acid-washed granite cut into planks and set like a hardwood floor. The flooring costs $45,000 to instal. “It’s a cool effect, and you need things like that if you have a mansion like this,” Harrison remarked.
The house is 8,845 square feet and is located in the Red Rock Estates gated enclave within Red Rock Country Club. In 2019, the home was listed for $3.9 million. Harrison and his wife lived in the mansion for three years, but now that his six children are gone, he no longer requires the space.
Harrison described his family’s neighbourhood as “one of the coolest streets in town.” The street is closed off during Halloween, with food trucks and a family-friendly ambience.
The gated neighbourhood is also entirely secure. When Harrison left his door open for 15 minutes to bring groceries into the house, security arrived to see if there were any problems. Harrison enjoys golf and loves living near a course.
What do you think of Harrison’s modifications to his Las Vegas home? Are you surprised that he chooses to live off the grid for certain months of the year? Please let us know, and please forward this to any loved ones that watch “Pawn Stars.”
