Richard Benjamin Harrison Biography
A native of Danville, Virginia, United States, Richard Benjamin Harrison was a popular American reality television personality and businessman, best known as the co-owner of the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, as featured on the History Channel series Pawn Stars.
Richard Benjamin Harrison Age
Benjamin was 77 years old as of 2018. He was born on 4 March 1941 in Danville, Virginia, United States. He died on 25 June 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.
Richard Benjamin Harrison Height
Benjamin stood at a height of 6 feet 0 inches(1.89m) tall and weighs 92kg(202 pounds).
Richard Benjamin Harrison Education
Benjamin enlisted at Lexington High School but dropped out during his junior school because his family barely had enough money to survive. He worked as a bus driver since he was 14 years old, which included late-night work hours for a minimum wage of just a few dollars a week.
Richard Benjamin Harrison Family
Benjamin was born and raised in Danville, Virginia, the United States by his loving and caring parents. Benjamin was the son of Ruth and Richard Harrison Sr.
Richard Benjamin Harrison Wife
When he was 17, Harrison attended a barn dance, where he met his future wife, Joanne Rhue, the daughter of Joseph Rhue, a county judge, who later became one of the lead attorneys for Philip Morris in North Carolina. They married in 1960.
Together, JoAnne and Benjamin had four children – three sons and one daughter. Their four children include Sherry Harrison, Joe Harrison, Richard Kevin Harrison, and Christopher Harrison.
Richard Benjamin Harrison Net Worth
Benjamin had an estimated net worth of $8 Million.
Richard Benjamin Harrison Awards
In March 2010, Benjamin, his son, grandson, and Austin “Chumlee” Russell were granted the key to the city of Las Vegas by Mayor Oscar Goodman.
Benjamin and the other stars of Pawn Stars acted as grand marshals for the History 300 NASCAR race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26, 2012.
On May 29, 2012, he was rewarded a key to the city of Lexington, his hometown, by Lexington Mayor Clark Newell, in the Lexington City Council Chamber, and the day was also officially “Richard Harrison’s Day”.
On July 17, 2012, the Clark County Commission stated that day to be “Pawn Stars/Gold & Silver Pawn Day”. At the Commission meeting, Harrison donated $1000 to the Clark County Museum and lent the U.S. Senate floor chair used by Senator Patrick McCarran (sold to the Gold and Silver in the Pawn Stars episode, “Take a Seat”) to the museum as part of a display on Senator McCarran.
Richard Benjamin Harrison Business
In April 1981, Benjamin and his wife, having only $5,000 left, moved with their three sons to Las Vegas, Nevada, where Harrison and his son Rick opened a Gold & Silver Coin Shop in a 300 square foot shop at 1501 Las Vegas Boulevard.
Five years thereafter, the family emigrated the business to a larger building at 413 Fremont Street, where it remained for two years before the Harrisons lost their lease. In 1987, Harrisons obtained a license to buy and sell secondhand goods.
In 1989, he 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. The most common item brought into the store is jewelry.
As of July 2011, the store had 12,000 items in its inventory, 5,000 of which are typically held on pawn. Even when absent from the show, according to an episode of Pawn Stars, he usually was the first to arrive at the shop in the morning,[21] and by 2010, had not had a sick day since 1994.
From July 19, 2009, until his death, Benjamin, his son Rick, his grandson Corey, and Corey’s friend and employee Austin Russell (“Chumlee”) starred in the reality television program Pawn Stars on the History Channel.
He was depicted as saying little and easily angered. Chumlee has stated that he is old and cranky, while Harrison himself indicates: “My role on the show is to be an old grump.”Within ten weeks of its debut, Pawn Stars was the highest-rated program on the History Channel and the second highest-rated reality show program behind Jersey Shore.
In that same period, the average number of customers in the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop increased from 70 to 700 per day. By February 2012, between 3,000 and 5,000 people visited the store each day.
Richard Benjamin Harrison Death
Benjamin died on June 25, 2018, after a battle with Parkinson’s disease. Harrison was survived by his wife Joanne, three sons, 10 grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. He placed his son Rick in charge of his estate. Christopher Keith Harrison, the youngest of Harrison’s three sons, was intentionally omitted as a beneficiary in his father’s will. Following his death, Pawn Stars ran a commemorative episode, “A Treasure Remembered”, featuring clips from the show and interviews about him.
