Frank Fritz of the reality show “American Pickers” has died at 60

Frank Fritz of the History Channel series “American Pickers” during the Craftsman Finding America’s Treasures event at the Sears Hometown store in Clinton, Iowa on May 7, 2011. Mark Hirsch/Craftsman via AP

Frank Fritz, part of a two-man team that drove across the U.S. looking for antiques and collectibles to buy and sell on the reality TV show “American Pickers,” has died.

He died Monday night at a hospice facility in Davenport, Iowa, said Annette Oberlander, a longtime friend. She said she was 60, not 58 as some websites and news sources say.

She said she was at his bedside, as was Mike Wolfe, who starred alongside Fritz for more than a decade on the History Channel program.

“The same off camera as him, Frank had a way of reaching the hearts of so many people just by being himself,” Wolfe said in an Instagram post, mourning the loss of his friend.

In American Pickers, Fritz and Wolfe mainly visited small towns and rural areas in search of items. They often crawled through dusty barns and crowded garages, flashlight in hand, to retrieve items to resell at an antique store in Iowa.

Fritz was often drawn to antique toys and would banter in a good way with the sellers as they tried to settle on a price.

Occasionally, they came across more notable finds, such as a dilapidated van in the woods of a small Massachusetts town where Aerosmith toured before they began filling stadiums with tens of thousands of fans.

Oberlander said Fritz had a stroke in 2022 and never fully recovered. She said a celebration of life, which will include a motorcycle run, will likely be held in the spring.

“He was a fierce friend,” Oberlander said. “He leaves behind an incredible amount of friendships because that was the most important thing to him. A very large amount of friends. Close friends.”

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