Jan Hooks obit

Comedian Jan Hooks dies at age 57

She was not on the list.

Jan Hooks, the actress and comedian who rose to fame with sly turns on "Saturday Night Live" as Ivana Trump, Tammy Faye Bakker, Sinead O'Connor and as part of the lounge-singing Sweeney Sisters, has died. She was 57.

Her representative, Lisa Lieberman, confirmed the death to CNN. The cause of death was not revealed.

In the late-'80s era of the show that also featured Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey, Nora Dunn and later Mike Myers, Hooks was the definition of a team player, always putting the sketch first. It was a character-actress attitude, one admired by others on the show.

"She was totally amazing as a sketch player," one of her colleagues, Kevin Nealon, told People magazine.

"She so immersed herself in her characters, and her timing was amazing. She got it from some crazy stratosphere, and I was so attracted to that talent in her, and I don't think she ever knew how well respected and admired she was for her talent," said Nealon, who also dated Hooks for a while.

Hooks' ability can best be seen in her portrayal of Tammy Faye Bakker, part of the evangelist couple who co-founded the PTL Club and were later embroiled in scandal. Bakker, in many ways, was an easy target: an overwrought figure who wore heavy eye makeup, the very caricature of an evangelist's wife. But Hooks found something deeper, as she showed in a "Church Chat" sketch during the days when PTL was in trouble due to a Jim Bakker affair and accusations of high living by the couple.

Hooks also stood out with her portrayal of Candy Sweeney, the blonde half of an effervescent pair of lounge singers who ladled on bad jokes and schmaltzy versions of pop hits, ignorant of their over-the-top performances. They regularly included a clanging version of "The Trolley Song" from the '40s movie "Meet Me in St. Louis."

But Hooks generally shunned the star turns others took on the show. In "The Sinatra Group," a parody of "The McLaughlin Group" led by Phil Hartman's Frank Sinatra, she was a deadly serious Sinead O'Connor, letting Hartman get the laughs for his tough-talking Sinatra.

Hooks was on "SNL" from 1986 to 1991. She wasn't planning to leave the show, she later said, but was offered a part on "Designing Women" and couldn't pass up the opportunity. She played Carlene Dobber for two seasons on the show, which was set in Atlanta, right next to her hometown.

Hooks was born in Decatur, Georgia, in 1957. After moving to Florida and Texas in her teen years, she returned to Atlanta and joined a comedy troupe named the New Wit's End Players, where she met writers Bonnie and Terry Turner.

The three soon had jobs on a TBS show built around the offbeat Bill Tush, back when TBS was Ted Turner's Atlanta Braves-airing "SuperStation." (Tush later became a CNN showbiz correspondent.) The Turners -- no relation to Ted -- also worked on "SNL" and later created "3rd Rock from the Sun," which occasionally featured Hooks.

Hooks also appeared on "30 Rock" and sometimes provided the voice of Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon, the wife of convenience store owner Apu, on "The Simpsons."

Hooks had roles in just a handful of movies, but her turn in "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" (1985) as an Alamo tour guide had many people sharing the scene on social media.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes

1985 Pee-wee's Big Adventure Tina

1986 Wildcats Stephanie Needham

1987 Funland Shelly Willingham

1992 Batman Returns Jen

1993 Coneheads Gladys Johnson

A Dangerous Woman Makeup Girl

1998 Simon Birch Miss Leavey

2004 Jiminy Glick in Lalawood Dixie Glick


Television

Year Title Role Notes

1980 Tush Various characters

1983 Prime Times Various characters TV special

1983 The 1/2 Hour Comedy Hour Various characters

1983–1984 Not Necessarily the News Various characters 24 episodes

1984 The Joe Piscopo Special Various characters TV special

1985 That Was The Week That Was Various characters TV special

1985 Comedy Break Various characters

1986–1994 Saturday Night Live Various characters 102 episodes

1989 Dear John Suzanne Episode: "John's Blind Date"

1991–1993 Designing Women Carlene Frazier Dobber 45 episodes

1992 Frosty Returns Lil DeCarlo Voice   TV special

1994 The Martin Short Show Meg Harper Short

1996 The Dana Carvey Show Kathie Lee Gifford Episode: "The Diet Mug Root Beer Dana Carvey Show"

1996–2000 3rd Rock from the Sun Vicki Dubcek 16 episodes

1997 Hiller and Diller Kate 2 episodes

1997–2002 The Simpsons Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon Voice

2001 Providence Doreen Dunfey Episode 3.10: "The Gun"

2001 Futurama Anglelyne Voice

Episode: "Bendless Love"

2001–2003 Primetime Glick Dixie Glick

2004 Game Over Nadine

2010 30 Rock Verna Maroney 2 episodes

2013 The Cleveland Show Mrs. Kellogg Voice

Episode: "Mr. and Mrs. Brown"

(final appearance)