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Jan Hooks dies at 57; fond memories of the actress who was a valuable part of ‘Saturday Night Live’s’ recovery years | Jan Hooks dies at 57; fond memories of the actress who was a valuable part of ‘Saturday Night Live’s’ recovery years |
(1 day later) | |
“Saturday Night Live” alum Jan Hooks, whose death at age 57 was confirmed by a representative Thursday evening, was in the show’s cast from 1986 to 1991. She was part of a group of extraordinarily talented performers who helped the show recover from the 1985-86 season that at the time was considered an utter disaster. | “Saturday Night Live” alum Jan Hooks, whose death at age 57 was confirmed by a representative Thursday evening, was in the show’s cast from 1986 to 1991. She was part of a group of extraordinarily talented performers who helped the show recover from the 1985-86 season that at the time was considered an utter disaster. |
Hooks, a Georgia native who was a veteran of the Groundlings comedy troupe in Los Angeles, was brought on to “SNL” for the 1986-87 season as part of a gang who would, in time, come to be regarded as some of the show’s hardest-working and most successful performers: Her co-stars included Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz (who survived the ’85-86 season) and Dennis Miller. In the late-’80s and early-’90s, she would also work with Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, Chris Farley, David Spade and Chris Rock. | Hooks, a Georgia native who was a veteran of the Groundlings comedy troupe in Los Angeles, was brought on to “SNL” for the 1986-87 season as part of a gang who would, in time, come to be regarded as some of the show’s hardest-working and most successful performers: Her co-stars included Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz (who survived the ’85-86 season) and Dennis Miller. In the late-’80s and early-’90s, she would also work with Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, Chris Farley, David Spade and Chris Rock. |
On a show not always known for equal treatment of its women performers, Hooks and her colleague Nora Dunn (and later Julia Sweeney) stood out for their energetic and spot-on characters. Hooks particularly excelled at playing smarmy, overly schmoozy women. Her most memorable character was Candy Sweeney, one half of a lounge act known as the Sweeney Sisters. (Dunn played the other sister, Liz Sweeney.) Here’s a (scratchy) clip of their medley from a Christmastime episode in which the Sweeney gals are throwing a party, at which Liz announces she’s engaged! | On a show not always known for equal treatment of its women performers, Hooks and her colleague Nora Dunn (and later Julia Sweeney) stood out for their energetic and spot-on characters. Hooks particularly excelled at playing smarmy, overly schmoozy women. Her most memorable character was Candy Sweeney, one half of a lounge act known as the Sweeney Sisters. (Dunn played the other sister, Liz Sweeney.) Here’s a (scratchy) clip of their medley from a Christmastime episode in which the Sweeney gals are throwing a party, at which Liz announces she’s engaged! |
sweeney sisters christmas! from amy susanne on Vimeo. | sweeney sisters christmas! from amy susanne on Vimeo. |
Best part? The between-song banter. Hooks was best when she was playing someone phony trying to be “heartfelt”: | Best part? The between-song banter. Hooks was best when she was playing someone phony trying to be “heartfelt”: |
“I’m gonna get serious for a minute here and say that my sister/bride-to-be has found her fella,” Candy says, during a quiet interlude. “For that, I’m very happy, although it’s not gonna be too easy being the Lone Ranger out there on the range by myself. [I]t may sound corny, but there’s a word in this business, people. And that word is ‘support.’ And this gal has given me nothing but, from the get-go, and I mean that, I do.” | “I’m gonna get serious for a minute here and say that my sister/bride-to-be has found her fella,” Candy says, during a quiet interlude. “For that, I’m very happy, although it’s not gonna be too easy being the Lone Ranger out there on the range by myself. [I]t may sound corny, but there’s a word in this business, people. And that word is ‘support.’ And this gal has given me nothing but, from the get-go, and I mean that, I do.” |
To which Liz faux-demurs: “Well, I’ll tell you one gift she’s not getting for Christmas — the gift of gab. You’ve got that already!” | |
“Guilty!” Candy shouts and off they go. | “Guilty!” Candy shouts and off they go. |
Another memorable sketch featured Hooks as that prototypical queen of modern smarm, TV host Kathie Lee Gifford, who serenades a monkey as a statement against the theory of evolution: | Another memorable sketch featured Hooks as that prototypical queen of modern smarm, TV host Kathie Lee Gifford, who serenades a monkey as a statement against the theory of evolution: |
“The show changed my life,” Hooks told Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales and his co-author James Andrew Miller for their 2002 book “Live from New York: An Uncensored History of ‘Saturday Night Live.’” (The book has recently been updated and re-released.) | “The show changed my life,” Hooks told Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales and his co-author James Andrew Miller for their 2002 book “Live from New York: An Uncensored History of ‘Saturday Night Live.’” (The book has recently been updated and re-released.) |
“But I have horrible stage fright,” she continued. “And with all these, you know, stand-up comics who I love — you know, Dana [Carvey] and Dennis [Miller] and Kevin [Nealon] and all these people — you know they wanted their shot, they wanted to get in there and do it, but I was one of the ones that between dress [rehearsal] and air was sitting in the corner going, ‘Please cut everything I’m in!’” | “But I have horrible stage fright,” she continued. “And with all these, you know, stand-up comics who I love — you know, Dana [Carvey] and Dennis [Miller] and Kevin [Nealon] and all these people — you know they wanted their shot, they wanted to get in there and do it, but I was one of the ones that between dress [rehearsal] and air was sitting in the corner going, ‘Please cut everything I’m in!’” |
Happily, they didn’t. | Happily, they didn’t. |
And, don’t worry, fans of 1985′s “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” we didn’t forget you or the Alamo, where, as Hooks reminds us, there is no basement. Never has been, never will be. | And, don’t worry, fans of 1985′s “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” we didn’t forget you or the Alamo, where, as Hooks reminds us, there is no basement. Never has been, never will be. |
RELATED: Notable deaths of 2014 | RELATED: Notable deaths of 2014 |
View Photo Gallery —A look at those who have died this year. | View Photo Gallery —A look at those who have died this year. |
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