'Pawn Stars' patriarch Richard Harrison, known as 'Old Man,' dead at 77

Richard Harrison, best known by his nickname "The Old Man" on History's "Pawn Stars," has died, family members confirmed Monday. He was 77.

Richard Harrison’s son, Rick Harrison, confirmed the news Monday on social media.

“He was my hero and I was fortunate to get a very cool ‘Old Man’ as my dad,” Rick Harrison wrote. “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. 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.”

Employees at Gold and Silver Pawn, the family-owned Las Vegas shop at the center of "Pawn Stars,” said in a statement Monday that Richard Harrison “was surrounded by loving family this past weekend and went peacefully.”

“The team at Gold & Silver Pawn and the Pawn Stars family is grieving his loss,” the statement said. “He will be remembered as the best father, grandfather and great-grandfather you could have by his family and by fans as the sometimes grumpy (always loving, however), often wisecracking, and voice of absolute reason on the History television show ‘Pawn Stars.’”

Richard Harrison was born March 4, 1941, in Danville, Virginia. A veteran of the U.S. Navy, he moved to Las Vegas in 1981 and started Gold and Silver Pawn with Rick Harrison in 1989, according to Fox News. He appeared in all 15 seasons of "Pawn Stars," which debuted in 2009.

He is survived by his wife, Joanne, and their three sons, Rick, Joseph and Chris.