Donald Ellis Wildmon (January 18, 1938 – December 28, 2023) was an American ordainedUnited Methodist minister, author, radio host, and founder and chairman of theAmerican Family Association andAmerican Family Radio.

Donald Ellis Wildmon was born inRipley, Mississippi,^[1][2] the son of Johnnie Bernice (née Tigrett), a schoolteacher, and Ellis Clifton Wildmon, a civil servant.^[3][4] Wildmon graduated fromMillsaps College in 1960. In 1961, he married Lynda Lou Bennett, with whom he had two sons and two daughters. From 1961 to 1963, he served in theU.S. Army. He gained hisMaster of Divinity (M.Div.) fromEmory University'sCandler School of Theology in 1965.^[5]

In June 1977, he moved toTupelo, Mississippi, to establish the National Federation for Decency (NFD), the predecessor to the modern American Family Association, because after watching television one night in December 1976 he felt that no primetime television program was appropriate for his family with young children.^[6][7] With a membership of 1,400, NFD's first television advertiser boycott was during spring 1978 and againstSears for sponsoringAll in the Family,Charlie's Angels, andThree's Company.^[8] Sears withdrew sponsorship of the latter two programs.^[9][10]

In February 1980, Wildmon founded the Coalition for Better Television (CBTV), this time with the help ofJerry Falwell and claiming a nationwide membership of 5 million.^[6][11] However, CBTV disbanded and Wildmon started Christian Leaders for Responsible Television without Falwell's involvement.^[12]

In 1986, the owners of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain pulled adult magazines from its stores after a boycott by the NFD.^[9][13]

Throughout the late 1970s, Wildmon actively protested television series that he thought promoted immoral lifestyles. He spoke against such programs asThree's Company,M*A*S*H andDallas.^[14]

In 1991, the British television documentaryDamned in the U.S.A., made forChannel 4'sWithout Walls arts series^[15] and directed byPaul Yule, about the then current state of censorship in the United States, chronicled the battle between Wildmon and artistsAndres Serrano andRobert Mapplethorpe. The documentary won the International Emmy for Best Documentary, amongst several other awards. Wildmon sued the producers for $8 million in damages after a distributor got the rights to show the film in the United States, stating that he had signed a contract with the producers that prevented distribution in the USA. A federal court found that Wildmon's contract did not support his claim concerning distribution of the film and the documentary was released in 50 cities nationwide.^[16]

On August 18, 2009, Tim Wildmon released the news via email that his father had been admitted to the North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo over the weekend of August 15–16, with what was thought to be a serious case ofmeningitis. After running tests, however, doctors determined that he hadSaint Louis encephalitis, a disease usually contracted from mosquitoes. He spent 121 days in the hospital and rehabilitation, and later underwent surgery for cancer on his left eye. On March 3, 2010, it was announced that Wildmon was stepping down as chairman of the American Family Association. His son Tim was expected to become the new chairman.^[17][18]

On December 28, 2023, Wildmon died inTupelo, Mississippi, at the age of 85, due to complications fromLewy body dementia.^[19]

• Wildmon, Donald E. (1975)Stand up to Life.Abingdon Press.ISBN 978-0-687-39290-2
• Wildmon, D. (1985)Home Invaders. David C. Cook.ISBN 978-0-89693-521-1
• Wildmon, D. (1986)The Case Against Pornography. David C. Cook.ISBN 978-0-89693-178-7
• Wildmon, D. (and Randall Nulton; 1989)Don Wildmon: The Man the Networks Love to Hate. Bristol.ISBN 978-0-917851-14-8
• Wildmon, D. (1997)Following the Carpenter: Parables to Inspire Obedience in the Christian Life.Thomas Nelson.ISBN 978-0-7852-7215-1
• Wildmon, D. (2009)Speechless: Silencing the Christians: How Secular Liberals and Homosexual Activists are Outlawing Christianity (and Judaism) to Force Their Sexual Agenda on America. Richard Vigilante.ISBN 0-9800763-3-1
• Friedeman, Matt. Wildmon, Donald E. (2001)In the Fight: A Mississippi Conservative Swings Back. Well Writers' Guild.ISBN 978-0-9711004-1-1

• Christian right
• Culture war
• Speechless: Silencing the Christians
• Mary Whitehouse, seen as the British equivalent to Wildmon

• Don Wildmon's biography on theAmerican Family Association Web site

• 1938 births
• 2023 deaths
• 20th-century American male writers
• 20th-century American non-fiction writers
• 20th-century American Methodist ministers
• 21st-century American male writers
• 21st-century American non-fiction writers
• 21st-century American Methodist ministers
• Activists from Mississippi
• American evangelicals
• American Family Association
• American male non-fiction writers
• American nonprofit executives
• American radio executives
• American religious writers
• American talk radio hosts
• Anti-pornography activists
• Candler School of Theology alumni
• Deaths from Lewy body dementia
• Deaths from dementia in Mississippi
• Methodist writers
• People from Tippah County, Mississippi
• United States Army soldiers
• Writers from Mississippi

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