Jan Hooks of SNL fame dead at 57

(CNN) -- Actress and comedian Jan Hooks died in New York on Thursday. Her representative, Lisa Lieberman, confirmed the death to CNN but provided no additional information.

Acccording to IMDb.com, Hooks was 57.





Hooks launched her career on the "The Bill Tush Show," broadcast in her hometown of Atlanta. That catapulted the sketch comedian to the national TV series "Not Necessarily the News."

She became famous as a "Saturday Night Live" cast member and performed on the show from 1986-1991, according to IMBD.

On SNL, Hooks impersonated actresses such as Bette Davis, Ann-Margret, Sally Kellerman and Jodie Foster, IMDb.com said. Other SNL regulars during that time included Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman and Mike Myers.

After leaving that show, she played Carlene Dobber for two seasons on "Designing Women," replacing the character played by Jean Smart. She also appeared on "3rd Rock from the Sun" and "30 Rock."

Hooks had roles in the movies "Tina," "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" and "Jiminy Glick in Lalawood."

According to the Simpsons Wiki, she sometimes provided the voice of Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon, the wife of convenience store owner Apu.

 

RIP, Jan.

 

Well crap.

 

Being that she was only in her early 50's at the time and was once a beauty, she certainly looked rough on 30 Rock. I too wondered if she had a medical condition or dependence issues. I know Kathleen Turner fell so far aesthetically in large part due of her inability to take care of herself because of certain health concerns.

Edit: The scuttlebutt is chemo drugs, battling cancer and a rough final few years for the former actress. She barely seemed to work over the last decade. I have sadly known a few to go through chemo. The process and the medications associated with it can be quite the ordeal on the body.

RIP.

 

Her and Alec Baldwin in the diner was the most funniest thing I ever saw


RIP

 

I agree, and I was trying to find it to append to the original post but I can't seem to find the good youtube version that I had seen last year. The acting in that one sketch was tremendous and you will rarely see acting of that caliber on SNL today.

 

No doubt. They had real actors on the show then. 1986-1991 was a glorious time for SNL and Ms. Hooks deserves a large share of the credit. She was hilarious on 3rd Rock from the Sun and 30 Rock in more recent years - I'm guessing her medical condition is why she why didn't act at all after 2010. I hope Lorne Michaels has the decency to give her a good tribute this coming Saturday... but since they barely mentioned Don Pardo after he passed (and he was with the show for 39 years!) I'm not gonna hold my breath.

 

I had a big crush on her during the SNL era. Funny, sexy, charming, the whole package. Sad she died so young. Very sad.

 

Well said.

 

Yes, NBC made youtube take down most of the SNL stuff for dvd set sales here in the states BUT they are able to be viewed on youtube in the U.K.
So, I downloaded "Hola" on my Google Chrome which gives you an IP address for any country you want to watch

Still couldn't find the original diner skit though... :-(

 

The diner skit:

https://screen.yahoo.com/snl-favorite-skits/brenda-waitress-000000407.html

 

Damn! Can't access it from "the region where I live".