Jim Bakker: key obituary facts
Is Jim Bakker dead? Yes. Jim Bakker died on October 5, 2026, at age 86.
Cause of death: Jim Bakker's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Jim Bakker known for?
He was an American televangelist (born 1940).
More about Jim Bakker
Born: 2 January 1940.
Place of birth: Muskegon.
Gender: male.
Occupation: televangelist, television presenter.
Nationality: United States.
Education: North Central University, Muskegon High School.
Spouse: Tammy Faye Messner.
Children: Jay Bakker.
Also known as: James Orsen Bakker, James Bakker.
Jim Bakker, an American televangelist known for The PTL Club, died October 5, 2026, aged 86.
Born James Orsen Bakker in Muskegon, Michigan, he attended North Central University in Minneapolis, where he met Tammy Faye LaValley. They married in 1961, left college and became itinerant evangelists, eventually having two children.
Before establishing his best-known ministry, Bakker worked at Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network, helping the network grow and hosting The 700 Club and a children’s program. He also briefly co-founded the Trinity Broadcasting Network with Paul and Jan Crouch. From 1974 to 1987, Bakker and Tammy Faye hosted The PTL Club and its cable platform, the PTL Satellite Network. He also developed Heritage USA, a Christian theme park in Fort Mill, South Carolina, that is now defunct. Bakker resigned from the PTL ministry in 1987 amid a cover-up involving hush money paid to church secretary Jessica Hahn over her allegation of rape; subsequent revelations concerned accounting fraud. Tammy Faye divorced him in 1992. In 1998, he married Lori Beth Graham, and together they adopted five children.