Televangelist Jim Bakker, Dies At 86

UNITED STATES – 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 at age 86.

His second wife, Lori Bakker, confirming he died on Monday. The cause of death was not provided.

The pair lived near Branson, Missouri, where they filmed their TV show “The Jim Bakker Show” since its launch in 2003.

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.

The couple also built Heritage USA, a Christian theme park and hotel in South Carolina, and a movie about their lives, ” The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” was released in September 2021.