WATCH: Jan Hooks was a cast member of Saturday Night Live for five years, at a time when the show needed her flair. Mike Le Couteur looks back at her life and laughter.
TORONTO — Former Saturday Night Live star Jan Hooks died Thursday in New York City. She was 57.
Hooks’ rep Lisa Lieberman confirmed the news late Thursday but did not provide additional details.
According to several media reports, Hooks had been suffering with a serious illness for some time.
Hooks was on SNL from 1986 to 1991 along with Canadians Mike Myers and the late Phil Hartman.
She also had recurring roles on Designing Women and 3rd Rock from the Sun –– the latter earned her an Emmy nomination. Her last role was playing Jenna Maroney’s mother on two episodes of 30 Rock in 2010.
The Georgia-born, Florida-raised actress also had small roles in movies like Pee Wee’s Big Adventure and Batman Returns.
Hooks frequently worked with Canada’s Martin Short. She played Dixie Glick, the wife of Short’s Jiminy Glick character in both his Primetime Glick series and 2004 movie Jiminy Glick in Lalawood.
BELOW: Watch Jan Hooks as Kathie Lee Gifford on SNL.
Hooks started her performing career as a member of The Groundlings comedy troupe. On SNL she was well known for playing Candy Sweeney of The Sweeney Sisters and for her impressions of stars like Bette Davis, Tammy Fay Bakker and Diane Sawyer.
BELOW: Watch Jan Hooks in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.
In a 1998 interview with CBS News, Hooks said she refused to work with liars, mean people or those who don’t understand what she’s all about. “I haven’t worked in a long time,” she joked.
Stars are reacting to Hook’s death on social media.
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