Jul 21, 2007 8:59 pm US/Eastern
Tammy Faye Messner Dead At 65
http://cbs3.com/topstories/topstories_story_202000456.html
(CBS) NEW YORK Tammy Faye Messner, the Christian singer, evangelist, entrepreneur, talk show host and scandal survivor has died of lung cancer. She was 65 years old.
Messner appeared on CNN's Larry King Live on July 19, and told the talk show host that she weighed 65 pounds and could only eat chicken soup and rice pudding.
Tammy Faye first battled cancer in 1996, when she was diagnosed with colon cancer. She successfully treated the disease but on March 19, 2004, just 2 weeks after her 62nd birthday, she announced she had lung cancer.
Illness was one of many battles Tammy Faye took on her during her life. She is best known as the ex-wife of Jim Bakker, the disgraced televengalist, convicted felon and admitted adulterer.
Tammy Faye and Jim married in 1961 with the goal of starting a traveling ministry. In 1973, the Bakkers established the short-lived Trinity Broadcasting Systems. The following year, Jim and Tammy Faye became the hosts of an existing North Carolina-based talk show, which they renamed the PTL (Praise the Lord) Club. Fueled by the success of the PTL Club, the Bakkers quickly established an entire Christian television network.
Fame, money and two children followed.
The Bakkers' empire began to unravel in 1980, when the national spotlight fell on Jim's adulterous affair with a church secretary, Jessica Hahn.