Tragic Details About Rick Harrison

The proliferation of the reality TV genre means that stars can be born out of anything from bounty hunting and ice road trucking to swamp logging and Yukon gold mining. Just take Rick Harrison, for example, who found fame as the co-owner of a Las Vegas pawn shop in one of the History network's biggest and most risqué-titled hits, "Pawn Stars."

Harrison may now get to grace the odd red carpet, cameo in sitcoms, and appear on the New York Times Best-Seller List, not to mention having a bank balance reportedly in the millions. But his unlikely showbiz life hasn't been without its hardships.

From serious health conditions and multiple trips to the divorce courts to the loss of loved ones and family lawsuits, here's a look at the more tragic side of the man who's helped to make the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop one of Sin City's most unlikely tourist attractions. 

Rick Harrison was born to mother Joanne and U.S. Navy veteran father Richard in the North Carolina city of Lexington in 1965. He was also welcomed by two older siblings, Joseph and Sherry. Tragically, however, the latter, who suffered from Down's syndrome, died just two years later.

Richard, who, as "Pawn Stars" viewers will know, was nicknamed the Old Man, once spoke about his only daughter in an interview with the Navy Times. The patriarch of the family explained that having previously served his time in the military — something he only signed up for to avoid a jail sentence for car theft — he later re-enlisted to help pay for Sherry's medical treatment. "I'll be honest with you, I couldn't afford the medical. Me and the wife talked it over, and I went back in the Navy. I enjoyed it."

In Rick's memoir "License to Pawn," Richard also revealed that decades later, the death of Sherry, aged seven, still hits him hard. Referring to his long-standing marriage, he said, "Joanne and I have been married for 51 years, and there have been some ups and downs along the way. We've had our share of heartbreak. Little Sherry was born disabled, with Down syndrome. She was the light of my life."

Rick Harrison is on the board of, and a national spokesperson for, the Epilepsy Foundation, an organization that is close to his heart. For at the age of eight, the reality TV star was diagnosed with the neurological disorder.

Harrison damaged his muscles so severely as a youngster that he spent much of his childhood recovering in bed. Luckily, the North Carolina native found a way to cope with the condition. In an interview with the foundation, he explained (via WTOP), "The best way to entertain myself was to read, so I became very interested in history books." John D. Fitzgerald's "The Great Brain," the story of a ten-year-old con artist, was a particular favorite.

Luckily, Harrison's seizures stopped as he entered adulthood, but he's still determined to help raise both money for and awareness of the disorder. Speaking about his charitable work with Fox News, the Pawn Stars favorite said, "... It has been rewarding. I do a couple hundred hours a year, raising money for them, interacting with kids, and basically having a good time doing it."

Rick Harrison was often upstaged on the reality TV show "Pawn Stars" by his own father, Richard Harrison, a no-nonsense kind of guy who didn't think twice about telling customers that they'd brought in a piece of junk. Sadly, both the reality TV show and those who knew and loved him suffered a major loss in 2018 when the eccentric died at the age of 77.

In a heartfelt tribute posted on Instagram, Rick described his dad, who'd battled Parkinson's disease for years, as his hero. He added, "That I got to share him with so many others and they got to see what a great family man he was is something I am grateful to have experienced with him."

Rick, who also uploaded photos of Richard in both his younger Navy years and his latter-day "Old Man" era, continued, "He lived a very full life and through the History television show 'Pawn Stars' touched the lives of people all over, teaching them the value of loving your family, hard work and humor. We appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers and ask that we are provided some privacy at this time."

In 2022, Rick Harrison was sued in a dispute about the ownership of the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop that had launched his family to global fame. And in a tabloid-friendly twist, the individual filing the lawsuit was his very own mother.

Yes, Joanne Harrison took such drastic measures in the wake of husband Richard Harrison's death four years earlier. The matriarch, who is said to have inherited 49% of the store, claimed that she'd been manipulated into signing over a controlling stake in the store at the turn of the century shortly after she'd come out of a coma. She also alleged that she hadn't been provided with its complete financial documentation by her son and that she was still waiting for an official accounting of the $500,000 in silver and money that Richard had accumulated, too.

Rick was adamant that he'd done nothing wrong, telling the Las Vegas Review-Journal, "The allegations are false and I think that my 81-year-old mother is being manipulated by others for their personal gain." The situation got even worse months later when Joanne decided to obtain a restraining order against her son, reportedly to ensure he couldn't siphon off any of her assets.

While Rick Harrison's father managed to avoid going to jail, serving time in the military as a youngster instead after being convicted of car theft, one of his sons was not so lucky. In 2023, Adam Harrison spent approximately three months in jail for reasons unknown. And in a heavily redacted report obtained from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department by the New York Post, it was clear that he struggled to adapt to life after prison, too.

The report states how Adam moved into an unknown individual's guesthouse following his release and immediately started displaying some odd behavior. A nearby resident told cops that the troubled ex-con had used furniture to barricade himself in the property, and that on learning that an unidentified woman had a new love, he beat himself up, resulting in two black eyes.

"His conversations were often lacking sound reasoning and mental clarity," the report added about Adam's worrying conduct. Sadly, the situation would only become even more tragic.

Rick Harrison went through every parent's worst nightmare in 2024 when his son, Adam Harrison, suddenly died at the age of just 39. A spokesperson for the family told People that a fentanyl overdose was the cause, although a coroner's report later revealed that it was a combination of methamphetamine and fentanyl toxicity.

In a brief statement given to the press following the devastating news, the Harrisons said (via the Independent), "Our family is extremely saddened by the death of Adam. We ask for privacy as we grieve his loss." Rick, however, did take to Instagram to upload a photo of himself with his son, captioned, "You will always be in my heart! I love you Adam."

Donald Trump Jr. and YouTuber Dennis Roady were just a few of the famous faces who took to the comments section to pay their respects to Adam, who, unlike brother Corey, never appeared on screen in the family's History network hit "Pawn Stars." Rick later told Fox News, "The fentanyl crisis in this country must be taken more seriously. It seems it is just flowing over the borders and nothing is being done about it. We must do better."

Both Rick Harrison and Deanna Burditt must have been hoping that it was third time lucky when they tied the knot at a Laguna Beach ceremony ordained by "Counting Cars" star Danny Koker in 2013. After all, both parties had previously been married and divorced twice. Unfortunately, this didn't prove to be the case.

Indeed, seven years later, the couple headed for the divorce courts once more, with legal documents procured by TMZ revealing that Harrison had filed for irreconcilable differences. The "Pawn Stars" favorite further explained that their "tastes, mental dispositions, views, likes, and dislikes have become so divergent that they have become incompatible in marriage."

Rick had previously been wed to Kim Harrison, the mother of his two eldest sons Corey and Adam, for three years in the early 1980s, and then Tracy Harrison, the mother of his youngest son Jake, from 1986 until 2011. The reality TV star is still obviously determined to make the whole marriage malarkey work, though. In 2021, he walked down the aisle for a fourth time, on this occasion, to Amanda Palmer.

It appears as though Richard Harrison was always the no-holds-barred kind of guy that he presented himself on "Pawn Stars." Just ask his son Rick Harrison, who, after getting a little lippy with his U.S. Navy veteran father as a teen, received a punch to the face.

Recalling the time he said, "F*** you" to his dad as a 16-year-old, Rick told Fox News. "I'm laying on the ground. He looks at me and says, 'Old enough to talk to me like a man, old enough to get your ass beat like one.' I just got up, walked away and never said another word about it."

Instead of seeing this as a form of child abuse, Rick instead interpreted his pop's painful response as a valuable life lesson: "He really changed my perspective on life and how words have meaning ... He was just an amazing individual. He taught that no matter what, you always take care of your kids, your family. If you have kids, you're a father for the rest of your life. He was an old school kind of guy that I think we need more of."

More than a decade before being sued by his very own mother, Rick Harrison found himself at the center of another lawsuit, this time over accusations of assault at the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop that he runs alongside his family. But according to son Corey 'Big Hoss' Harrison, it should have been instantly thrown out of court.

The drama began in 2012 when Daniel Callahan, a disabled 62-year-old Vietnam veteran, claimed that he'd been manhandled out of the Las Vegas store by both Rick and his father, Richard Harrison, following a dispute about a rifle. The complainant sought $20,000 for the injuries he said he'd suffered as a result. However, in a chat with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Corey argued that not only was his dad and grandad innocent, Callahan was, in fact, the one causing trouble.

"Like they did some kind of tag team on this guy?" Corey questioned rhetorically while discussing the allegations. "They were never in the room with him." The "Pawn Stars" favorite went on to say although he wasn't a witness to the incident in question, he'd learned that Callahan was "absolutely irate with a weapon in his hand and 4,000 people waiting. He was screaming 'I want to see the owner.'"