See also Action films; De Lorean, John;Family
Ties; Film in the United States; Fox, Michael J.;
Science-fiction films; Sequels; Special effects; Spiel-
Berg, Alan
Bakker, Jim and Tammy Faye
Identification Evangelical minister and his wife
Jim Bakker
Born January 2, 1940; Muskegon, Michigan
Tammy Faye Bakker
Born March 7, 1942; International Falls,
Minnesota
Died July 20, 2007; Loch Lloyd, Missouri
Charismatic televangelist preachers Jim and Tammy Faye
Bakker used television to bring their ministr y into the public
eye, creating an empire that brought in millions of dollars
each year.
Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker were hosts of thePTL
Club, whose initials stood for “praise the lord” or
“people that love.” Bakker used his boyish good
looks, humor, and righteous anger to send his mes-
sage and draw in viewers. Tammy Faye was best
known for her lavish use of makeup. Mascara often
ran down her face as she cried while singing or ask-
ing for donations. When their talk show premiered
in 1976, it was very different from other evangelical
television programs, which offered somber, some-
times threatening, messages. The faithful were ready
for something different. Millions of middle-class
Christians worldwide found it by tuning in daily to
watch the Bakkers. The PTL ministry grew quickly,
earning more than $129 million per year.
Bakker preached what was called “prosperity the-
ology.” What you gave to God, he said, would be re-
turned to you many times over. He believed that God
wanted His followers to have the best of everything,
including million-dollar homes and expensive cars
and clothes.
At the center of the PTL ministry was the Heri-
tage USA theme park and complex. What began in
1978 as a Christian campground soon turned into
the third largest theme park in the nation, complete
with hotels, restaurants, and a shopping mall. After
attending bible study, prayer meetings, or weekly
services, families could relax at the water park.
As the PTL ministry grew during the 1980’s, so
did the Bakkers’ lavish lifestyle. They spent money
faster than their followers could send it in. Bakker
came up with the idea of PTL lifetime partners. For
a one-thousand-dollar donation, partners earned
one free weekend stay per year at Heritage hotels for
the rest of their lives. Bakker, however, soon found
himself being sued, because there weren’t enough
rooms to accommodate everyone who had purchased
a lifetime partnership. The lawsuits and the couple’s
conspicuous consumption led the mainstream me-
dia to turn them into symbols of the worst excesses of
televangelism.
In 1987, word leaked about a 1980 sexual encoun-
ter between Jim Bakker and a church secretary
named Jessica Hahn. The incident became public
when it was discovered that Hahn had been paid
$265,000 to keep quiet. Bakker temporarily steppedThe Eighties in America Bakker, Jim and Tammy Faye 87
Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker record an episode of their television
program on August 20, 1986.(AP/Wide World Photos)