TLDR: Pawn Stars premiered on History Channel in 2009 and made the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas one of the most visited tourist destinations in the country.
Richard “The Old Man” Harrison died on June 25, 2018, from Parkinson’s disease at age 77.
Chumlee was arrested in a drug and weapons raid in 2016 and lost 160 pounds after gastric sleeve surgery.
Rick Harrison’s son Adam died from a fentanyl overdose on October 23, 2023, at age 39.
Drew Max, the autograph authentication expert, died in Clark County Detention Center on April 7, 2020.
Corey Harrison survived a devastating motorcycle accident in Mexico in early 2026. The show is currently on hiatus.
The Gold and Silver Pawn Shop opened in 1989 with a few thousand dollars. By 2026 it employs over 80 people and is one of the most photographed buildings in Las Vegas. The family that built it has buried a patriarch, lost a son to fentanyl, survived a weapons raid, and watched an expert die in a jail cell.
Here is what happened to everyone.
The Old Man Chose the Navy Over Prison at 17 and Built a Las Vegas Institution
Richard Benjamin Harrison Jr. was born in Danville, Virginia, on March 4, 1941, and grew up poor in Lexington, North Carolina. At 17 he stole a car, and the judge gave him a choice between incarceration and military service. He chose the United States Navy in October 1958 and spent 20 years there, eventually reaching Petty Officer First Class.
His daughter Sherry was born with Down syndrome and died at age six. He never spoke much about it publicly. In 1981 his wife Joanne’s real estate business collapsed in San Diego when interest rates hit 18 percent.
They moved to Las Vegas. In 1989 he and Rick opened the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop. He worked there without a sick day from 1994 until he retired in 2017.
Parkinson’s disease took him gradually. Rick announced his death on Instagram on June 25, 2018, calling him his hero and teacher. His coffin was flag-draped at the funeral honoring his Navy service. He was buried at Palm Northwest Cemetery in Las Vegas.
Rick Harrison Lost His Son to Fentanyl and Has Been Fighting the Crisis Ever Since
Rick Harrison dropped out of high school in the tenth grade and was making $2,000 a week selling counterfeit Gucci bags before he turned 20. He built the pawn shop with his father from scratch and spent 15 years turning it into a television show that aired in 150 countries.
On October 23, 2023, his son Adam Harrison died from a fentanyl overdose in a Las Vegas guesthouse at age 39. Adam had struggled with addiction throughout his twenties and had been through rehab multiple times. Rick had been married five times by 2026, most recently to Angie Polushkin in Cancun earlier that year. Adam’s death is what defines this chapter of his life.
Since Adam died, Rick has testified before legislative committees, appeared on national television, and worked with organizations pushing for the HALT Fentanyl Act and the Combatting Illicit Xylazine Act.
He has said publicly that nearly 50,000 Americans die annually from synthetic opioid overdoses and that counterfeit pills made to look like legitimate prescriptions are what killed his son. He has not stopped talking about it.
Chumlee Was Arrested in a Weapons and Drug Raid and Lost 160 Pounds
Austin Lee Russell grew up as Corey Harrison’s childhood friend and started working at the shop years before the cameras arrived. On screen he was the lovable one who didn’t know things, the punchline, the guy the Old Man and Rick shook their heads at.
Off screen he had a vault in his home containing 12 firearms including assault-style rifles, methamphetamine, marijuana, and Xanax.
Police raided his house on March 9, 2016, during a sexual assault investigation. The assault charges didn’t stick. The weapons and drug charges did.
He pleaded guilty in May 2016 to a felony weapons charge and a gross misdemeanor drug charge, received three years of probation and mandatory counseling, and had the felony dismissed from his record when he completed probation in 2019.
The Harrison family kept him on. He responded by undergoing gastric sleeve surgery and losing 160 pounds. He married Olivia Rademann in Hawaii in August 2019. He opened Chumlee’s Candy in the Pawn Plaza. By 2025 he was co-hosting the Pawn After Dark podcast with Rick.
Corey Harrison Survived a Motorcycle Crash in Mexico in 2026
Corey Harrison started working at the shop at age nine and spent years pushing for a real ownership stake before securing a 5 percent partnership in Season 7.
He lost nearly 200 pounds after gastric lap band surgery in 2010. In early 2026, while in Tulum for his father’s wedding, he was in a motorcycle accident that fractured 11 ribs, punctured a lung, and caused internal bleeding. He checked himself out of a Playa del Carmen hospital against medical advice over cost concerns and eventually had life-saving surgery in Merida.
A GoFundMe was launched to cover more than $100,000 in medical bills. As of mid-2026 his recovery is ongoing.
Drew Max Authenticated Fake Autographs for Years and Died in Jail in 2020
Drew Max was the show’s autograph authentication expert for years, authenticating more than 150 items on camera. In 2015 it emerged that he had been certifying forgeries as genuine, including a Charles Lindbergh signature that the aviator’s own daughter confirmed was fake.
He was sued for fraud, breach of contract, deceptive trade, and conspiracy. The pawn shop dropped him.
He was arrested on DUI charges in 2020 and taken to the Clark County Detention Center. He died there on April 7, 2020, from arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease and chronic alcoholism. He was the show’s most cautionary story.
Rebecca Gomez Left the Shop and Built a Media Career
Rebecca Gomez appeared as the shop’s accountant and on-camera personality for several seasons. Before Pawn Stars she had a background in journalism. She left the show and returned to media work, building a career away from the Las Vegas pawn world.
The Expert Roster That Made the Show Work
Beyond the family, the show relied on a rotating cast of specialists who provided the historical authority behind each appraisal. Mark Hall-Patton, the Clark County Museum administrator known as Mark the Historian, became one of the show’s most recognizable faces through his encyclopedic knowledge and deadpan delivery.
David Vagi handled ancient coins. Craig Gottlieb specialized in military memorabilia. Murray the Magician authenticated performance artifacts. Johnny Jimenez covered jewelry.
Where the Show Stands in 2026
Pawn Stars is currently on hiatus from History Channel. New casting calls from ITV America were active in early 2026, suggesting production may resume. The spin-off Pawn Stars Do America, where Rick, Corey, and Chumlee travel the country buying items, continues.
The actual shop remains open seven days a week and is one of the most visited tourist stops in Las Vegas, though the haggling scenes are now filmed on a duplicate set in a separate facility because the cast is too recognizable to work the real counter during business hours.
The Old Man’s chair behind the counter is still there. Rick Harrison walks past it every day. The haggling and the history lessons are more real than most viewers assume.
