Jan Hooks Biography

Janet V. "Jan" Hooks (born April 23, 1957) is an American actress and comedian best known for her work on NBC's Saturday Night Live (SNL), where she was a repertory player from 1986 to 1991 and continued making cameo appearances until 1994. Her subsequent work has included a regular role on the final two seasons of Designing Women, and a number of roles in film and television.

Life and career

Hooks was born in Decatur, Georgia, east of Atlanta. She began her career as a member of the Los Angeles-based comedy troupe The Groundlings and in an Atlanta nightclub act called The Wits End Players. In 1978"1979, Hooks appeared in Tush on Ted Turner's television station WTCG, which eventually became TBS. She gained notice in the early 1980s on the HBO comedy series Not Necessarily the News. Hooks also had guest comedienne appearances on Comedy Break with Mack and Jamie in the mid-'80s.

Hooks was considered for SNL in 1985 but was passed over by the show's producers in favor of Joan Cusack. After SNL's 1985-1986 season was deemed a ratings disaster and put on the chopping block for cancellation, returning producer Lorne Michaels offered Hooks a contract in 1986. Together with new recruits Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, and others, Hooks helped put the show back in the national spotlight. Her characters included Candy Sweeney of "The Sweeney Sisters." She also performed notable impressions of Bette Davis, Ann-Margret, Betty Ford, Nancy Reagan, Sinéad O'Connor, Jodie Foster, Tammy Faye Bakker, Kathie Lee Gifford, Kitty Dukakis, Diane Sawyer, and Hillary Clinton.

Tiring of the stress of performing on a live show, Hooks left SNL in 1991 after being asked by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason to replace Jean Smart on the CBS sitcom Designing Women. Hooks played the role of Carlene Dobber for the final two seasons of the show. Since then, she has made appearances in several movies, starred as Dixie Glick in the series Primetime Glick and the movie Jiminy Glick in Lalawood, and had a recurring role as the trashy Vicki Dubcek on 3rd Rock from the Sun, which earned Hooks an Emmy Award nomination. Hooks guest-starred on two Matt Groening-produced cartoons for the FOX Network: The Simpsons, as Apu's new wife, Manjula (though Hooks was later replaced by Tress MacNeille); and Futurama, in the episode "Bendless Love," as the voice of a female robot named Angleyne. She also had a memorable role in Pee-wee's Big Adventure as a know-it-all tour guide at the Alamo.

Hooks made a cameo appearance in the 1992 movie Batman Returns as Jen, the Penguin's image consultant during his campaign to become Mayor of Gotham City. In 2010 she was a guest star on 30 Rock, playing Jenna's mom, Verna.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role
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	Series	Role	Notes
1980	Tush	Various characters
1983	Prime Times	Various characters	TV special
	The 1/2 Hour Comedy Hour	Various characters
1983"1984	Not Necessarily the News	Various characters	Appeared 24 episodes
1984	The Joe Piscopo Special	Various characters	TV special
1985	Comedy Break	Various characters
1986"1994	Saturday Night Live	Various characters	Appeared in 102 episodes; main cast member until 1991
1989	Dear John	Suzanne	Episode 2.4: "John's Blind Date"
1991"1993	Designing Women	Carlene Frazier Dobber	Appeared in 30 episodes
1992	Frosty Returns	Lil	TV special
1994	The Martin Short Show	Meg Harper Short
1996	The Dana Carvey Show	Kathie Lee Gifford	Episode 1.4: "The Diet Mug Root Beer Dana Carvey"
1996"2000	3rd Rock from the Sun	Vicki Dubcek	Appeared in 16 episodes
1997	Hiller and Diller	Kate	Appeared in two episodes
1997"2002	The Simpsons	Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon	Appeared in six episodes
2001	Providence	Doreen Dunfey	Episode 3.10: "The Gun"
	Futurama	Anglelyne	Episode 3.6: "Bendless Love"
2001"2003	Primetime Glick	Dixie Glick
2004	Game Over	Nadine
2010	30 Rock	Verna Maroney	Episode 4.12: "Verna" and Episode 4.20: "The Moms"