Jim Bakker, televangelist who co-founded ‘The PTL Club’ empire but fell from grace, dies at 86

Branson, MO. — Jim Bakker, who with his first wife Tammy Faye built an evangelical empire around the hit TV show “The PTL Club” only to lose it all to a sex scandal and financial crimes, has died. He was 86 years old.

Bakker died Monday, his second wife, Lori Bakker, said in a statement. The cause of his death was not immediately clear.

The couple lived near the entertainment town of Branson, Missouri, and filmed their television show “The Jim Bakker Show” there since it launched in 2003. Bakker suffered a stroke in 2020.

“He was a pioneer in Christian television, but to me he was my husband, my best friend and the man I had the honor of walking with through so many seasons of life and ministry,” Lori Bakker said in a statement. “Jim loved people deeply. He loved this ministry and he loved the friends and partners who accompanied him throughout the years. Even in his final days, his heart was always set on the work of God and the continuation of the Gospel in the world.”

But it was another evangelical program that made Jim and his first wife, Tammy Faye Bakker, cultural icons – so much so that they were often skewered in the 1980s and 1990s by late-night comedians and parodied on “Saturday Night Live.” A theatrical film about their lives, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” was released in September 2021.

At its peak in the mid-1980s, the Bakkers’ ministry included not only the television show, which attracted up to 13 million viewers each evening, but also the Heritage USA Christian theme park and hotel in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

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, she sang and played the accordion as they crossed the country visiting churches and tent revivals.

They attracted the attention of televangelist Pat Robertson and in 1965 launched a children’s show on the Robertson Christian Broadcasting Network. In 1966, he hosted “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 his signature show.

At its peak in the 1980s, “The PTL Club” attracted millions of viewers and grossed millions of dollars each year from its subscribers.

A sort of Christian version of “The Tonight Show,” it featured discussions with Christian guests and artists. Bakker offered upbeat sermons and Tammy Faye — charismatic and still wearing her trademark thick mascara — sang. Most episodes were recorded at their sprawling compound just south of Charlotte, North Carolina.

The couple was so famous that they were often parodied by television comedians for their lavish lifestyle and Tammy Faye’s heavy makeup.

Jim Bakker finds himself embroiled in scandals

In March 1987, their empire began to unravel when Bakker admitted to having a sexual relationship with church clerk Jessica Hahn. Bakker was forced to resign from his own empire, handing over operations to pastor and broadcaster Jerry Falwell.

Tammy Faye remained by Bakker’s side, often with tears streaming down her mascara, even as many viewed her downfall as a fitting symbol of the greed and hypocrisy of the 1980s.

Things only got worse.

In 1988, Bakker was indicted for mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy after an investigation into PTL’s finances. He was convicted and sentenced to 45 years in federal prison, although the sentence was later reduced to eight years.

At a press conference after Bakker was found guilty, Tammy Faye stood in front of the microphones and sang the anthem “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand.”

Their marriage collapsed, and Tammy Faye divorced Bakker in 1992, just before their 31st birthday, while he was still in prison. She later married Roe Messner, a construction 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 paroled in 1994. He married his second wife, Lori, in 1998. The couple launched “The Jim Bakker Show” on the PTL satellite network five years later.

In June 2021, Bakker and his company Morningside Church Productions Inc. settled a trial accusing him to falsely claim that the Silver Solution health supplement could cure COVID-19. The settlement included a refund of $156,000 to people who paid money or contributed to obtain the product at the start of the pandemic.

The lawsuit says Bakker and a guest claimed healing over the course of 11 episodes in February and March 2020.

Bakker and Tammy Faye had two children. He and his second wife adopted five children in 2002.