Billy Graham Parents: Meet William Franklin Graham Sr., Morrow Graham

Billy Graham was an American evangelist who became one of the most influential religious figures of the 20th century.

Billy Graham was born on November 7, 1918, to Morrow and dairy farmer William Franklin Graham Sr., he was the eldest of four children. Billy  Graham grew up on the family dairy farm alongside his two younger sisters Catherine Morrow and Jean, as well as his younger brother Melvin Thomas.

When he was nine years old, his family relocated about 75 yards (69 metres) from their white-frame house to a newly constructed red brick house. He was raised in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church by his parents.

Billy Graham went to the Sharon Grammar School. He began reading books at a young age and particularly enjoyed reading Tarzan novels. Like Tarzan, he would cling to the trees and yell the famous Tarzan yell. That yelling, according to his father, inspired him to become a minister.

When Prohibition ended in December 1933, Graham was 15 years old, and his father forced him and his sister Catherine to drink beer until they became ill. Because of this, the two siblings avoided alcohol and drugs for the rest of their lives.