Jim Bakker, who built a powerful evangelical ministry with his first wife, Tammy Faye, through the hugely popular “The PTL Club” television program before the empire collapsed amid a sex scandal and financial crimes, has died at 86.
Bakker died Monday, his second wife, Lori Bakker, said in a statement. No cause of death was immediately disclosed.
Jim and Lori Bakker lived near Branson, Missouri, where they produced “The Jim Bakker Show” after its launch in 2003. Bakker suffered a stroke in 2020.
“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,” Lori Bakker said.
The program that turned Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker into cultural icons was also the source of relentless mockery. Their flamboyant public image was parodied by late-night comedians and “Saturday Night Live” during the 1980s and 1990s. Their story was later dramatized in the September 2021 film “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.”
At the ministry’s height in the mid-1980s, the Bakkers’ operation included “The PTL Club,” which attracted as many as 13 million viewers each night, as well as the Christian-themed Heritage USA theme park and hotel in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
Born in Muskegon, Michigan, Bakker attended North Central Bible College in Minneapolis, where he met Tammy Faye. They married in 1961, left college and began a traveling ministry of their own. Bakker preached while Tammy Faye sang and played the accordion at churches and tent revivals across the country.
The couple attracted the attention of televangelist Pat Robertson and, in 1965, launched a children’s program on Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network. A year later, Bakker became host of “The 700 Club,” the network’s Christian talk show.
Bakker left CBN in 1972. Two years later, he established the PTL Satellite Network, whose flagship program was “The PTL Club.” PTL stood for “Praise the Lord.”
The show reached its peak during the 1980s, drawing millions of viewers and generating millions of dollars each year from its followers.
Often described as a Christian take on “The Tonight Show,” “The PTL Club” combined guest interviews and performances by Christian entertainers with Bakker’s upbeat sermons. Tammy Faye, known for her distinctive heavy mascara, sang on the program. Most episodes were recorded at the couple’s sprawling complex south of Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Bakkers’ fame made them frequent targets of television comedians, who ridiculed their lavish lifestyle and Tammy Faye’s dramatic makeup.
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Their empire began to unravel in March 1987, when Bakker acknowledged a sexual encounter with church secretary Jessica Hahn. He was forced to resign from the ministry he had built, handing control to pastor and broadcaster Jerry Falwell.
Tammy Faye remained by Bakker’s side, often appearing with tears streaking her mascara. To many observers, his collapse became a symbol of the perceived greed and hypocrisy associated with the televangelism boom of the 1980s.
The ministry’s troubles soon deepened.
In 1988, Bakker was indicted on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy following an investigation into PTL’s finances. He was convicted and initially sentenced to 45 years in federal prison, though that sentence was later reduced to eight years.
After Bakker was found guilty, Tammy Faye stood before reporters at a news conference and sang the hymn “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand.”
The marriage ultimately fell apart. Tammy Faye divorced Bakker in 1992, shortly before their 31st anniversary, while he remained behind bars. She later married Roe Messner, a building contractor whose projects included Heritage USA. Messner was convicted of bankruptcy fraud in 1995 and served about two years in prison.
Tammy Faye died from colon cancer in 2007.
Bakker was released on parole in 1994 and married Lori in 1998. Five years later, the couple launched “The Jim Bakker Show” on the PTL Satellite Network.
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 of 2020.
Bakker and Tammy Faye had two children. He and his second wife adopted five children in 2002.
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