Jim Bakker, who built a huge TV following and evangelical empire with his first wife, Tammy Faye, which later collapsed in a sex scandal and financial crimes, has died. He was 86.
Bakker died Monday, his second wife, Lori Bakker, said in a statement. The cause of death was not provided.
“He was a pioneer of Christian television, but to me, he was my husband, my best friend, and the man I was honored to walk beside through so many seasons of life and ministry,” she said.
The pair lived near Branson, an entertainment destination in Missouri, where they had filmed their TV show “The Jim Bakker Show” since its launch in 2003. Bakker suffered a stroke in 2020.
But it was the “The PTL Club,” which at its peak in the mid-1980s drew 13 million nightly TV viewers, that made Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker cultural icons — so much so that they were often skewered in the 1980s and ’90s by late-night comedians and parodied on “Saturday Night Live.”
The couple also built Heritage USA, a Christian theme park and hotel in Fort Mill, South Carolina, and a movie about their lives, “ The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” was released in September 2021.
Bakker rose to prominence alongside other televangelist titans of the 1980s. His death and that of Jimmy Swaggart last year mark the end of an era. Their legacy lives on in prosperity gospel preachers that still fill the airwaves.
Bakker starts out as a traveling preacher
Bakker was born in Muskegon, Michigan, and attended North Central Bible College in Minneapolis, where he met Tammy Faye. They married in 1961 and dropped out of college to start their own traveling ministry. He preached and she sang and played the accordion in churches and tent revivals across the country.
They caught the attention of televangelist Pat Robertson, and in 1965 launched a children’s show on Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network. By 1966, Bakker was hosting “The 700 Club,” a Christian talk show.
Bakker left CBN in 1972 and two years later formed the PTL Satellite Network. “The PTL Club” — PTL stands for “Praise the Lord” — became its signature show.
In its heyday in the 1980s, “The PTL Club” attracted millions of viewers and brought in millions of dollars annually.
The show featured chats with guests and Christian entertainers. Bakker offered upbeat sermons and Tammy Faye — charismatic and always wearing her trademark heavy mascara — sang. Most episodes were taped at their sprawling complex just south of Charlotte, North Carolina.
They were often parodied by TV comedians, mocked for their lavish lifestyle and Tammy Faye’s abundant makeup.
Sex scandal and financial crimes damage his empire
Their standing began to crumble in March 1987, when Bakker admitted to a sexual encounter with church clerk Jessica Hahn. Hahn alleged that Bakker sexually assaulted her; Bakker maintained that the encounter was consensual.
Bakker was forced to resign from his empire, turning over operations to pastor and broadcaster Jerry Falwell.
Tammy Faye stuck by Bakker, often seen with mascara-stained tears running down her face.
Bakker was indicted in 1988 for mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy after an investigation of PTL’s finances. He was convicted the following year and sentenced to 45 years in federal prison. The sentence was later reduced to eight years.
At a news conference after he was found guilty, Tammy Faye sang the hymn, “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand.”
Their marriage fell apart and Tammy Faye divorced the still-incarcerated Bakker in 1992, just short of their 31st anniversary. She later married Roe Messner, a building contractor whose projects included the Heritage USA theme park. Messner was convicted of bankruptcy fraud in 1995 and spent about two years in prison.
Tammy Faye died of colon cancer in 2007.
Bakker was released on parole in 1994 and married Lori in 1998. They launched “The Jim Bakker Show” on the PTL Satellite Network five years later.
In June 2021, Bakker and his Morningside Church Productions Inc. settled a lawsuit accusing him of falsely claiming the health supplement Silver Solution could cure COVID-19. The settlement called for $156,000 in refunds to people who paid money or gave contributions to obtain the product in the early days of the pandemic.
The lawsuit said Bakker and a guest made the cure claim during 11 episodes in February and March 2020.
One of Bakker’s sons became a progressive Christian pastor
Bakker and Tammy Faye had two children. He and Lori Bakker adopted five children in 2002.
Jay Bakker, the 50-year-old son of Bakker and Tammy Faye, posted about his father’s death on social media.
“We had a very complicated relationship and he was also my father and a grandfather and I need to mourn in my own time,” he wrote. “I need the freedom to feel anger and feel loss …”
The younger Bakker has spoken about the toll his parents’ scandals had on him. He became a progressive Christian pastor, critical of the Christian right and an advocate for LGBTQ+ inclusion.
In February, he told television station WCNC Charlotte that he and his father “have very different opinions on things like theology and politics, but we do try to maintain a relationship.”
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Salter, a former Associated Press journalist, was the main author of this obituary. Associated Press reporter Tiffany Stanley contributed from Washington, D.C.
By JIM SALTER and HALLIE GOLDEN
Associated Press
