''Fall from Grace'' is an American

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

about the lives of

Jim Bakker James Orsen Bakker (; born January 2, 1940) is an American televangelist and convicted felon. Between 1974 and 1987, Bakker hosted the television program ''The PTL Club'' and its cable television platform, the PTL Satellite Network, with his ...

and his then-wife,

Tammy Faye Bakker Tamara Faye Messner (née LaValley, formerly Bakker ; March 7, 1942 – July 20, 2007) was an American evangelist. She co-founded the televangelist program ''The PTL Club'' with her husband Jim Bakker in 1974. They had hosted their own puppet-s ...

, during the 1980s, starring

Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. Known for Kevin Spacey on screen and stage, his work on stage and screen, he List of awards and nominations received by Kevin Spacey, has received numerous accolades, including two ...

and

Bernadette Peters Bernadette Peters ( ''née'' Lazzara; born February 28, 1948) is an American actress and singer. Over a career spanning more than six decades, she has starred in musical theatre, television and film, performed in solo concerts and released reco ...

in the lead roles. The film, which depicts the events that led to the PTL scandal and the Bakkers' subsequent downfall, aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

on April 29, 1990, as well as during occasional reruns in later years on the

Lifetime Movie Network LMN, an initialism for the Lifetime Movie Network, also known as Lifetime Movies, is an American pay television network launched on June 29, 1998 and owned by the Lifetime Entertainment Services subsidiary of A&E Networks, a joint venture between ...

Plot

In the 1980s,

televangelist Televangelism (from ''televangelist'', a blend of ''television'' and ''evangelist'') and occasionally termed radio evangelism or teleministry, denotes the utilization of media platforms, notably radio and television, for the marketing of relig ...

and

PTL Club ''The PTL Club'', also known as ''The Jim and Tammy Show'', was a Christian television program that was first hosted by evangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, running from 1974 to 1989. The program was later known as ''PTL Today'' and as ''H ...

founder

and his wife Tammy decide to expand their PTL television ministry to include a village resort with an

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

, which they christen

Heritage USA Heritage USA was an American Christian-themed water park, theme park and residential complex in Fort Mill, South Carolina, built by televangelist Jim Bakker and his wife Tammy Faye Messner, Tammy Faye Bakker, founders of ''The PTL Club''. The ...

. However, during this time, the Bakkers are being investigated for various acts of

scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a ...

ous behavior, beginning with Jim's 1980

affair An affair is a relationship typically between two people, one or both of whom are either married or in a long-term Monogamy, monogamous or emotionally-exclusive relationship with someone else. The affair can be solely sexual, solely physical or ...

with then-church secretary

Jessica Hahn Jessica Hahn (born July 7, 1959) is an American model and actress. She frequently appeared on ''The Howard Stern Show'' throughout the late 1980s and into the 2000s. Jim Bakker scandal Hahn first came to public attention in 1987 after the discl ...

. They are also investigated for

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

(specifically, using followers' donated funds to support an upscale lifestyle as well as finance the Heritage USA project). These investigations ultimately led to a highly publicized

involving the Bakkers and the PTL ministry in March 1987, which gained national attention. The Bakkers are defrocked and the PTL ministry and Heritage USA are then taken over by another televangelist, Rev.

Jerry Falwell Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservatism in the United States, conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch ...

. Jim is later sentenced to prison on fraud and conspiracy charges (but this is not depicted in the movie). Subplots in the film deal with Jim and Tammy's constant bickering, as well as Tammy's drug abuse that led to rehabilitation at the

Betty Ford Center The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is an addiction treatment and advocacy organization that was created in 2014 with the merger of the Minnesota-based Hazelden Foundation and the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California, in the United State ...

. Bernadette Peters, as Tammy, sings several

gospel songs Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

throughout the movie, including "Mercy Rewrote My Life", "

Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn written in 1772 and published in 1779 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is possibly the most sung and most recorded hymn in the world, and especially popular in the Unit ...

", "God Rides on the Wings of Love", and " His Eye Is on the Sparrow".

Peter Matz Peter Matz (November 6, 1928 – August 9, 2002) was an American musician, composer, arranger, and conductor. His musical career in film, theater, television, and studio recording spanned fifty years. He worked with a number of prominent ar ...

arranged the music.

Cast

as Tammy Faye *

Richard Herd Richard Thomas Herd Jr. (September 26, 1932 – May 26, 2020) was an American actor appearing in numerous supporting, recurring, and guest roles in television series and occasional film roles from the 1970s to the 2010s. He was well known in the ...

as Richard Dortch * Richard Paul as Rev.

* Annie Wood as

Beth Grant Beth Grant (born September 18, 1949) is an American character actor, character actress. Between 2012 and 2017, she was a series regular on the television comedy ''The Mindy Project'' in the role of Beverly Janoszewski. She is also known for her ...

as Paulene *

John McLiam John McLiam (born John Williams; January 24, 1918 – April 16, 1994) was a Canadian actor noted for his skill at different accents. His film appearances include ''My Fair Lady'' (1964), ''In Cold Blood'' (1967), John Frankenheimer's movie of ' ...

as Rev. Aubrey Sara * Travis Swords as Patrick *

Jon Lindstrom Jon Robert Lindstrom (born October 18, 1957) is an American actor, writer, director, producer, and musician. He is well known for his roles of Kevin Collins and Ryan Chamberlain on the ABC Daytime soap opera ''General Hospital'' and its spi ...

as Brian * Justin Lord *

Steven Barr Steven Barr is an American actor who voiced Urdnot Wrex in the ''Mass Effect'' trilogy. Following the death of Jim Varney, Barr provided additional dialogue for his character Cookie in ''Atlantis: The Lost Empire'' and fully replaced him in the ...

as Bodyguard #1 * Rod Britt as Finance Executive *

Robert Broyles Robert Houston Broyles (January 20, 1933 - February 12, 2011) was an American character actor, drama teacher, theatre director, and writer. He was sometimes billed as Bob Broyles or Bobby Broyles. Early life Broyles was born in Sparta, Tenness ...

as Construction Foreman * Randy Crowder as TV Director * Mark Davenport as Real Estate Man * Keith Joe Dick as Cowboy

Production

The rights to the Bakkers' story were sold to

NBC Productions Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a division of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#Universal Studio Group, Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is ...

in 1987. After Ken Trevey was hired to write the movie, his assistant interviewed the Bakkers. After the bankruptcy trial in 1989, the script was rewritten. Spacey at first declined the role, but finally decided to take it, because of "Jim's complexity — and a 3½-hour phone conversation with director Arthur." Because Tammy's weight fluctuated, Peters sometimes had to have extra padding; she wears false nails and five wigs. The movie cost $3-million-plus to make. A ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' article noted that both Peters and Spacey said "they had doubts about taking part in the show because of the caricature, ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' aspect of their characters", but were assured that they would not play caricatures.

Response

The ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' reviewer wrote that "Kevin Spacey as Jim and Bernadette Peters as Tammy are absolutely fabulous" but that, in a "miscalculation", the "movie they're in is so petrified of offending religious viewers that it pulls back."Tucker, Ke
"TV Review, 'Fall From Grace'"
''Entertainment Weekly'', April 27, 1990

Awards and nominations

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

* Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries or a Special— WINNER (tied with ''The Phantom of the Opera'') * Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries or a Special— nominated

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fall From Grace (1990 Film) 1990 television films 1990 films NBC original films NBC Productions films Films set in 1980 Films set in 1987 Films directed by Karen Arthur Films scored by Charles Bernstein