Television Evangelist, Entrepreneur, Talk Show Host. She gained famed as being the wife of television evangelist Jimmy Bakker, for her participation in the PTL scandal, and her exaggerated eye make-up. Born Tammy Faye LaValley, she was the oldest of eight children born to Pentecostal preachers Carl and Rachel Fairchild LaValley. She was introduced to religion at a young age. She attended North Central Bible College in Minneapolis, Minnesota. While attending college, she met Jim Bakker, and in 1961 the two married. The couple would have two children, Tammy Sue in 1970 and Jamie Charles in 1975. She and her husband were instrumental in building three Christian-based television networks: The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) with Pat Robertson, The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) with Paul Crouch, and PTL, which would become their most known venture. While working for CBN, they co-hosted "The 700 Club," from 1966 to 1973. The PTL club would be their largest venture, that would grow to include the theme park, Heritage USA, making an empire worth $125 million. By the 1980s the couples popularity and credibility faltered when they became embroiled in scandal. Due to financial misappropriations and her husband's much publicized extramarital affair with Jessica Hahn, the Bakkers relinquished control of the PTL club, and the Reverend Jerry Falwell gained control. After being found guilty of these crimes, her husband would spend five years in prison, and the couple would divorce in 1992. A year later she married PTL member and construction developer Roe Messner. She worked tirelessly to re-define herself and her reputation and hosted two shows: "Tammy Faye's House Party," and the 1996 syndicated talk show "Jim J. and Tammy Faye." The show was short lived as she was diagnosed with colon cancer. When her health returned, she continued to work appearing on television, including guest spots on shows like:" Roseanne," and as Mimi's mother on "The Drew Carey Show." She also told her side of the story in the 2000 documentary "The Eyes of Tammy Faye." In 2004 she appeared as a contestant on the reality series "The Surreal Life," and made lasting friendships with her co-stars including an unlikely one with adult film star Ron Jeremy. Shortly after completing the show, she was diagnosed with lung cancer, a metastasis of her 1996 bout with colon cancer. after treatment, she had a brief remission, but the disease soon returned. She continued to fight the disease, believing that it was in God's hands. In May of 2007 she revealed that they had stopped her treatment for the disease. She made one last reach out to her fans on July 18, 2007 when she taped a segment for "Larry King Live." She appeared frail and spoke with difficulty, and weighing only 65 pounds. She died just two days later at her home in Kansas City Missouri at the age of 65. In 1996, she wrote her autobiography, "Telling it My Way." She also wrote "Run to the Roar," a book about overcoming fear. In 2003, she wrote her last book, "I Will Survive, and You Will Too." She was also an accomplished Christian Singer recording over 25 albums, but she will be most remembered as the woman with an unshakable devotion to her God, who cared about helping others, and who wore wild make-up.