In an interview with CNN's Larry King that aired last week, an emaciated Mrs. Messner, wearing her trademark makeup, said, "I believe when I leave this earth, because I love the Lord, I'm going straight to heaven." Asked whether she had any regrets, Mrs. Messner said: "I don't think about it, Larry, because it's a waste of good brain space."
For many, the TV image of then-Mrs. Bakker forgiving husband Jim's infidelities, tears streaking her cheeks with mascara, became a symbol for the wages of greed and hypocrisy in 1980s America.
She divorced her husband of 30 years in 1992 while he was in prison for defrauding millions from followers of their PTL television ministries. The letters stood for "Praise the Lord" or "People that Love."
Bakker said in a statement last night that his former wife "lived her life like the song she sang, 'If Life Hands You a Lemon, Make Lemonade.' "
"She is now in Heaven with her mother and grandmother and Jesus Christ, the one who she loves and has served from childbirth," he said. "That is the comfort I can give to all who loved her."
Her second husband also served time in prison. She married Roe Messner, who had been the chief builder of the Bakkers' Heritage USA Christian theme park near Fort Mill, S.C., in 1993. In 1995, he was convicted of bankruptcy fraud, and he spent about two years in prison.
Through it all, Mrs. Messner kept plugging her faith and herself. She did concerts, a short-lived secular TV talk show, and an inspirational videotape. In 2004, she cooperated in the making of a documentary about her struggle with cancer, called "Tammy Faye: Death Defying."
"I wanted to help people . . . maybe show the inside [of the experience] and make it a little less frightening," she said.
That same year, she appeared on the WB reality show "The Surreal Life," co-starring with former rapper Vanilla Ice, former porn star Ron Jeremy, and others. She told King in 2004 that she didn't know who Jeremy was when they met and they became friends.
