Televangelist Jim Bakker dies at 86
Televangelist Jim Bakker died on Monday, October 5. He was 86. His wife Lori announced the death on social media. No cause of death was given.
Bakker built a multimillion-dollar religious broadcasting empire in the 1970s and 1980s. He co-hosted The PTL Club with his then-wife Tammy Faye and founded the Heritage USA Christian theme park.
His career collapsed in scandal. In 1989 he was convicted of fraud for bilking followers in a scheme involving vacations at Heritage USA. He spent four and a half years in prison.
He returned to televangelism in 2003 with The Jim Bakker Show. In 2020 he was sued by two US states for selling phony Covid-19 cures and was forced to return $156,000.
Bakker became a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump in his later years. His rise and fall inspired the 2021 film The Eyes of Tammy Faye.
He is survived by his wife Lori, five adopted children and two children from his first marriage.
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