Biography

Flamboyant televangelist Paul Crouch first gained notoriety as the founder of the "Trinity Broadcasting Network" (TBN), an evangelical/charismatic Christian television network, on which he and his wife, Jan Crouch, had their own religious (but very controversial among conservative evangelicals) talk show called Praise (1973). In 1999, Crouch came under much criticism for his network's relentless promotion of the film, The Omega Code (1999), which involved having members of the film's cast and its producers and director making appearances on several of the network's religious talk shows, promoting the film as one that "Christian families" should see as an alternative to the "sexually explicit, violent and Godless" films coming out of Hollywood, and claiming that it was a "huge box office hit" (it wasn't); what Crouch didn't tell his audience was that he was in fact an executive producer of the film, his organization financed it and he stood to make quite a bit of money if the film became a hit (it didn't). After the Crouch organization's connection with the film became public knowledge (and after many letters from outraged viewers), he admitted his role in the film's production on subsequent promotional efforts that were run on his network.
- IMDb mini biography by: A. Nonymous

Is a charismatic pastor and a member of the controversial "Word of Faith" movement, a movement better known for its "prosperity gospel" message.

Crouch and his organization, the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), have been dogged by scandal and controversy for many years. During a televised appeal for funds in 1997, Crouch said that viewers who had not contributed money to the station were "robbing God and will lose your reward in heaven". That same year, in response to charges by other Christian ministers that he was "spreading blasphemy", Crouch went on the air and said, "God, we proclaim death to anything or anyone that will lift a hand against this network". In 1991 he answered other evangelists' criticisms of his organization by saying on the air, "Quit blocking God's bridges or God's going to shoot you - if I don't." When criticisms were leveled about the Crouches' purchase of a $7.5-million mansion in the super-wealthy enclave of Newport Beach, CA, they claimed that the estate actually belonged to their organization, TBN. When documents surfaced showing that the estate actually belonged to them, they said that it was a reward from God for their good works in spreading "the word". In 2004 the organization was rocked by accusations from a former church member who claimed that he and Paul Crouch had been having a sexual relationship for several years. The Crouches at first denied it, but it turned out that TBN had been paying off this man for several years and in fact had also paid him an out-of-court settlement of more than $425,000.

Father, with Jan Crouch of sons Matthew Crouch, Paul Crouch Jr. and Andrew Crouch.

Co-founder, with Jan Crouch, of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) in 1973.

Expanded the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) from one station in Southern California to thousands of stations across the world.