Televangelist Jim Bakker, Tammy Faye's Ex-Husband, Dies at 86
Jim Bakker, the televangelist who built a Christian broadcasting empire with his first wife, Tammy Faye, before it collapsed in scandal and fraud, has died. He was 86.
Bakker died Monday, Oct. 5, according to People. His second wife, Lori Bakker, announced his death in a statement shared Monday evening, calling him “a pioneer of Christian television” and describing him as “my husband, my best friend.”
His cause of death was not immediately disclosed. Bakker suffered a stroke in 2020.
From Bible College to a Broadcasting Empire
Bakker was born James Orsen Bakker on Jan. 2, 1940, in Muskegon, Michigan. He met Tammy Faye LaValley while both were students at North Central Bible College in Minneapolis, and the two married in 1961.
The couple got their start in Christian television in the 1960s, working on early programs for Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network before launching their own ministry. In 1974, they founded "The PTL Club," short for "Praise the Lord," a talk show that blended faith, music and personal testimony.
The show became a phenomenon. At its peak, "The PTL Club" drew as many as 13 million viewers a night. The Bakkers also built Heritage USA, a sprawling Christian theme park and resort in Fort Mill, South Carolina, featuring a hotel, a water park, a shopping mall and a TV studio.
The couple's lavish lifestyle and Tammy Faye's signature heavy makeup made them household names, and frequent targets for late-night comedians.
The Scandal That Brought It All Down
The empire began to crumble in March 1987. The Charlotte Observer reported that PTL had paid more than $250,000 to Jessica Hahn, a former church secretary with whom Bakker had a sexual encounter years earlier. Bakker resigned and turned control of the ministry over to pastor and broadcaster Jerry Falwell.
The financial revelations that followed proved even more damaging. To fund the ministry's rapid expansion, Bakker had sold "lifetime partnerships." For a $1,000 contribution, partners were promised four days and three nights of free lodging at Heritage USA every year for life. The ministry sold roughly 150,000 of them, raising about $158 million, far more than its hotels could ever accommodate.
Bakker was indicted in 1988 and convicted the following year on 24 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy. Prosecutors also accused him of diverting millions of dollars for personal use.
U.S. District Judge Robert Potter sentenced him to 45 years in prison and fined him $500,000. An appeals court later threw out the sentence, and it was reduced to eight years. Bakker was paroled in 1994 after serving roughly five years.
Tammy Faye divorced him in 1992 while he was still in prison. She later married Roe Messner, the contractor who built much of Heritage USA, and died of cancer in 2007 at age 65.
A Second Act and New Controversy
After his release, Bakker wrote a memoir titled "I Was Wrong," in which he publicly reflected on his failures. In 1998, he married Lori Beth Graham, and the couple adopted five children.
He returned to television in 2003 with "The Jim Bakker Show," filmed near Branson, Missouri. The program increasingly focused on end-times prophecy, and Bakker sold survival food and emergency supplies to viewers.
That second act brought new legal trouble. In 2020, Bakker promoted a product called Silver Solution in connection with claims about COVID-19. The state of Missouri sued, and in 2021, Bakker and his ministry settled the case by agreeing to pay $156,000 in refunds to customers.
A Lasting Place in Pop Culture
The Bakkers' rise and fall remained a source of public fascination for decades. Their story was dramatized in the 2021 film "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," starring Jessica Chastain as Tammy Faye and Andrew Garfield as Jim. Chastain won the Academy Award for best actress for the role.
Bakker is survived by his wife, Lori, and his children, including Tammy Sue Bakker Chapman and Jay Bakker, a minister who confirmed his father's death on Facebook.
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