Tammy Faye Bakker

Biography

Tamara Faye "Tammy" Messner (née LaValley; March 7, 1942 – July 20, 2007), formerly Tammy Faye Bakker, was an American Christian singer, evangelist, entrepreneur, author, talk show host, and television personality.

She initially gained notice for her work with The PTL Club, a televangelist program she co-founded with her husband Jim Bakker in 1974. Prior to founding The PTL Club, they had hosted their own puppet show series for local programming in Minnesota in the early 1970s, and Messner also had a career as a recording artist. In 1978, she and Bakker built Heritage USA, a Christian theme park.

Messner would garner significant publicity when Jim Bakker was indicted, convicted, and impris...