As a couple, Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker created an evangelical empire that encompassed a Christian ministry, broadcasting network and theme park. They became two of the most famous televangelists in America, whose devout teachings often appeared at odds with the extravagant lifestyle they led. The fact that their eventual fall from televised grace came from a sex and financial scandal only served to increase the public’s fascination with them.
Tammy Faye LaValley was born in International Falls, Minnesota, in 1942 to Pentecostal preacher parents. Jim Bakker was a self-described visionary and dreamer who was born in 1940 and grew up in Muskegon, Michigan. They met in 1960 as students at North Central Bible College in Minneapolis and for their first date, Jim invited Tammy Faye to attend church with him. In her memoir Tammy: Telling it My Way, Tammy Faye recalls Jim saying to her at the end of that date: “Tammy LaValley, I have loved you ever since the minute I saw you walk into school…” before asking her to marry him.
A year later, the newlyweds had dropped out of college to follow their shared dream of creating a ministry. As Assemblies of God traveling evangelists, Jim preached while Tammy Faye sang and played the accordion, ministering to churches across the United States. One part of their teachings involved a puppet show ministry for children, which in 1965 became a television show on Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). Leveraging Robertson’s admiration for the children’s program, Jim convinced him that if the puppet show was successful Jim should be given an opportunity to create a late-night Christian talk show.
