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Frank Fritz, star of “American Pickers,” dies at 60
Frank Fritz, who drove around the U.S. looking for antiques and collectibles to buy and resell on the reality show “American Pickers,” has died.
He died Monday night at a hospice facility in Davenport, Iowa, said Annette Oberlander, a longtime friend. She said he was 60, not 58, as some websites and news sources said.
She said she was at his bedside, as was Mike Wolfe, who starred with Fritz for more than a decade on the History Channel program. A mix of “Antiques Roadshow” and “Hoarders,” the show follows the friends as they crisscross the country hunting for a piece of history.
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“The same off camera as he was on, Frank had a way of reaching the hearts of so many by just being himself,” Wolfe said an Instagram post mourning the loss of his friend.
“We are saddened to share that our friend and beloved member of The HISTORY Channel and American Pickers family, Frank Fritz, has passed away on September 30, 2024,” the “American Pickers” show wrote on its social media account.
The pair drove some 70,000 miles a year hunting for pieces that captured their attention.
“When you walk into an antique shop, chances are 95% of the time, that dealer is not buying all of that stuff,” Wolfe told CBS Sunday Morning in a 2020 interview.
Fritz worked for the show for over a decade, the show said, describing him as a “bearded charmer” on a never-ending search for vintage motorcycles and bikes.
“Our thoughts are with Frank’s loved ones during this difficult time. He will be deeply missed,” the post said.
Oberlander, his friend, 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 happen in the spring.
“He was a fierce friend,” Oberlander said. “He leaves behind an incredible amount of friendships because that’s what was most important to him. A very large amount of friendships. Close friendships.”
The House Ethics Committee, which has been conducting an investigation into sexual misconduct and obstruction allegations against Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, scheduled a vote for Friday on whether to release its report, according to three sources with knowledge of the committee’s work.
Hours after President-elect Donald Trump said he planned to nominate Gaetz to be attorney general, Gaetz resigned his congressional seat, effective immediately.
“I do not intend to take the oath of office for the same office in the 119th Congress, to pursue the position of Attorney General in the Trump Administration,” Gaetz said in his resignation letter obtained by CBS News
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that there was about an eight-week period during which Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis could fill his seat by setting the date for a special election.
Now that Gaetz has resigned, it is unclear whether the panel will vote on releasing the report, since Gaetz is no longer in Congress.
There is precedent in Congress on the Senate side for an ethics committee report to become public after a member resigns from Congress, however. In 2011, this happened when Sen. John Ensign of Nevada resigned amid allegations that he tried to hide an extramarital affair.
But it’s not clear that that would apply to the House, leaving open the possibility that the report on Gaetz would not be released.
In June, the House Ethics Committee released a statement saying it was investigating a range of allegations against Gaetz, including sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, and bribery.
Multiple sources at the time told CBS News that four women had informed the House Ethics Committee that they had been paid to go to parties that included sex and drugs, and that Gaetz had also attended. The committee has Gaetz’s Venmo transactions that allegedly show payments for the women.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has called the committee’s investigation a “frivolous” smear campaign.
Some of the allegations of sexual misconduct under review by the committee were also the subject of a previous Department of Justice probe into Gaetz. Federal investigators sought to determine if Gaetz violated sex trafficking and obstruction of justice laws, but no charges were filed.
The House Ethics Committee resumed its investigation into Gaetz in 2023, following the Justice Department’s decision not to pursue charges against him.
Gaetz has long blamed then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, also a Republican, for the probe. And Gaetz later led the movement to sack McCarthy as speaker.
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