Jan Hooks Tribute 1957-2014
In 2011 Dana Carvey triumphantly returned to host Saturday Night Live where he had been an enormously popular cast member for several years. In his monologue called "Glory Years", he performs a song proclaiming his cast (1986 to 1993) was the best. He was absolutely right. This was a superb Saturday Night Live cast that included Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Nora Dunn, Kevin Nealon, Victoria Jackson, Dennis Miller, John Lovitz and... Jan Hooks. Perhaps it was just because this cast was new right as I discovered Saturday Night Live and was forming opinions for myself about what was funny, but all these players (even Victoria Jackson and Dennis Miller) were exceptional in my young eyes. I was at an age before I would go out on Saturday Nights and I looked forward to spending my Saturday night with my "friends" from New York. I would record skits on a compact cassette recorder. I began to recite scenes and catch phrases. I was hooked. And yet in a cast filled with such talent and brilliance Jan Hooks always shined bright enough to capture my attention in whatever sketch she was in. She was beautiful and versatile. She could play a prostitute or a first lady, a valley girl or a grandma with equaled heart. But most of all she was relentlessly funny. Although I still enjoy and watch Saturday Night Live to this day, the five years with Jan Hooks truly were the glory years. On October 9th, 2014 the world lost Jan Hooks, as she succumbed to a serious disease. This is a woman whom over the years I had felt such fondness, as if I knew her. I want to share some of her moments (there is not time for all of them) from SNL and other places in her career, so those of you who did not know her might know her a little better.
Jan Hooks started honing her comic craft early as a member of The Groundlings, a Los Angeles comedy club and school where several comedians ultimately graduate to stardom. From there, she furthered her funny on a late night sketch comedy show called Tush (The Bill Tush Show). The photo above is from a 1981 news article about Jan deciding what to do after the show's cancellation. Between 1983 to 1984 she was on the acclaimed HBO comedy series Not Necessarily the News. Jan hooks was apparently in competition with Joan Cusack in 1985 to join the cast of Saturday Night Live. Joan Cusack was chosen that year but quickly let go as the ratings that year were abysmal. Jan was reconsidered and hired in 1986 thus beginning her five year contract on Saturday Night Live.
Jan thrived on Saturday Night Live because of her comic resourcefulness. She could be crazy or play "straight", even sing or be physical. Although Jan purportedly suffered from stage fright, on air she was always dead-on true to each character and rarely (if ever) cracked up or flubbed a line. While a somewhat accepted practice now, at that time, it was considered a mark of unprofessionalism to break character.
Corey's Secret is one of Jan's sketches that cleverly combines a then current political event with a commercial parody. In it Jan Hooks portrays Corizon Aquino, the President of the Philippines, as her palace in Manila is besieged in yet another coup attempt. The stress of it all makes her face the camera and exclaim "Beauty bath take me away!" A direct reference to Calgon (Bubble Bath) which was heavily advertised in the 80's. A simple but funny moment in this sketch is Corey saying "Oooooh!" as she settles into the warm bath. A few cuts later Corizon Aquino's trademark glasses are fogged up. The few luxurious moments she spends in the bath is enough to recharge her spirit as she emerges clean and refreshed even as bullets trail past her head. Corey is now ready to face the aggressive militia at her door thanks to Beauty Bath.
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In one of her more famous characterizations Jan Hooks plays the "straight woman" as a very serious and hyper-political Sinead O'Connor surrounded by trivial conversation on the excellent parody of the McgLaughlin Group, "The Sinatra Group." Phil Hartman portraying a crass, confident Frank Sinatra posits "What is with the bald chick?" To which Jan replies: "I cant believe your talking about my hair with all the pain and suffering in the world."
Jan Hooks as Ivana Trump enters a lavish looking Trump Tower office. Jan stays in character as she must pause her dialogue to allow the extended, sustained applause of approval from the live audience to subside. She must have been doing something right. They either love her, the character, or both. Here Jan shows off her ability to exude poise and elegance as the aging trophy wife squares off with Phil Hartman crafting a cold Donald Trump as they discuss their divorce settlement. The sketch plays out like a cheesy soap opera as Ivana stands initially confident, insisting she will not settle for a measly 25 million, but as events unfold she is quickly and easily beaten as Donald has ridiculous clauses in the prenuptial agreement. At every turn she is foiled as she learns the contract allows him to have a mistress, provided she's younger, and that she will be paid in giant stone coins of the Yap islanders. The interaction between Jan and Phil is terrific, the sketch ends with Donald playing the part of a sleazy card dealer as her financial fate is placed on a double or nothing game of chance.
Jan portrays a matriarchal figure as the elder mother in this hilarious parody of a Dysfunctional Christmas album commercial. Above she tells her daughter (Julia Sweeny) through song, that underneath those "extra pounds" is very pretty girl. The performances by everyone in this commercial parody are superb and the songs are very funny. As a kid watching it just once, the one I remembered the most was Dana Carvey's bit, the "Carol of intimacy" which was a spoof of "Carol of the Bells" with the words: "Leave me alone, just go away, I'm doing fine..."
Jan is playing "straight" again to a dim witted Dennis Quaid in this sketch about a secretary composing a letter for an imbecile that cannot find the right words. This sketch is about as simple a premise as you can get. Here she portrays an older woman holding back despite intellectual superiority to her boss. This is one of those sketches where your eyes are drawn to Jan. Her facial expressions perfectly portray the frustration she is not able to verbally relay.
In this sketch with Judge Reinhold Jan Hooks flirts skillfully while depicting an aggressive and seductive stewardess with an angle in a strange sketch called Deregulated Airlines. This sketch had a lot going on in the background.
Another of her most popular characters, her hilarious portrayal of Tammy Faye Baker was comic gold. She describes a hallucinogenic event brought on by pills that forced her to confront, then ultimately rebuke demonic raisins! Jan, although a very attractive woman, was not afraid to look ugly for a character. On one occasion as Tammy Faye, Jan can briefly be seen squirting a runny mascara solution on her eyes (to simulate tears) as the camera cut back to her.
I think this Tales of Ribaldry sketch is one that really made me notice Jan. Another time where Jan shows her seductive side. The whole premise was about veiled and not-so-veiled sexuality. This installment, featuring Tom Hanks, was filled with great quotes by Jan: "At last I meet the vagabond Bootblack, The only man who can polish my husbands boots to a mirror like finish. I must see those powerful arms and wrists, Remove your shirt.", and later "And now bootblack polish a boot for me." Framed by a fantastic performance by Jon Lovitz as the eccentric voyeur host, this remains one of my favorite SNL sketches of all time.
While SNL has a tradition of turning political events into great comedy, for better or worse these portrayals were also humanizing these political figures often kept at a distance. Here we see Jan Hooks portray a childishly jealous Nancy Reagan unwilling to turn over the White House to the new first lady Barbara Bush (Phil Hartman). It starts pleasant enough as a visit for tea, then Nancy notices and is bothered by a vase having been moved. From there it erodes to Nancy ultimately needing to be physically removed by security all the while Phil's Barbara Bush is cooly and calmly dispensing niceties.
Jan was not really known for her recurring characters or for catch phrases. Her closest calls are her impressions of other celebrities that have appeared repeatedly on the show like Tammy Faye Baker and Sinead O'Connor. Perhaps her most frequent original character was a cheesy lounge act duo called the Sweeny Sisters that she portrayed along with the talented Nora Dunn. This successful re-occurring sketch was apparently Jan's idea. Nora Dunn in a statement on her Facebook page talks about the origin of the Sweeny Sisters, life on SNL, and processing the loss of her friend.
"It was Jan Hooks who came up with the idea for The Sweeney Sisters. On the spot while we were shooting a commercial parody for Saturday Night Live. It came like a minor explosion, as most of her ideas did, and she delivered the concept and our names in a matter of seconds. Then she started belting out medleys of classic swing songs. There was no way I could keep up with her. She was a seasoned improvisor who never credited herself as a writer and at the heart of her matter she was a genuine actress. Saturday Night Live wasn't summer camp. It wasn't fun until and unless you were in front of the camera doing a bit you loved. And I loved nothing as I loved being a Sweeney Sister. In character Jan and I knew exactly who we were without discussion. It happened on its own. As Liz and Candy we shared an uncomplicated bond and an enduring sisterly love. The fact that they became a hit was secondary to the joy of being them. We opened the Emmy's in 1987 and back stage we decided to chat with George Will and Sam Donaldson in character. They shunned us as if we were two backstage barflies trying to slut it up with a couple of genuine prime time newsmen. No one enjoyed something like that more than Jan Hooks. She did have stage fright, but once in front of the camera, she carried the show. It was our costume designer, Pam Peterson, who found our lounge gowns and it became part of the gag that we wore them in every single sketch. I don't know where those dresses are now, but they should be in the Smithsonian. In our finest sketch, we performed with Mary Tyler Moore, who was the one and only third Sweeney sister.
I'm not ready to accept that Jan died, at 57. That's not fair. But neither is life. It's sorrowful, and there isn't one comedian worth her weight in salt if she doesn't understand that. No matter how long we are here, it's not long enough. But I always thought I'd see Jan again. I knew she wasn't well, but we always think things will get better. It takes a long time, a long history, to know that the best things, the best moments in life, are gone in what seems like a flash. She and I had our best moments together on television, and sometimes late at night in our offices where we were talking and not writing, and sometimes out in a so-so tavern in midtown Manhattan while we were drinking too much. She and I spent an evening with George Harrison in Lorne's office one night, drinking wine and playing records and listening to one of the Beatles, who was engaging and prolific, I remember her saying afterwards, "Did that really happen?" And I hear myself saying that now, as I read this piece. Did it?"
"It was Jan Hooks who came up with the idea for The Sweeney Sisters. On the spot while we were shooting a commercial parody for Saturday Night Live. It came like a minor explosion, as most of her ideas did, and she delivered the concept and our names in a matter of seconds. Then she started belting out medleys of classic swing songs. There was no way I could keep up with her. She was a seasoned improvisor who never credited herself as a writer and at the heart of her matter she was a genuine actress. Saturday Night Live wasn't summer camp. It wasn't fun until and unless you were in front of the camera doing a bit you loved. And I loved nothing as I loved being a Sweeney Sister. In character Jan and I knew exactly who we were without discussion. It happened on its own. As Liz and Candy we shared an uncomplicated bond and an enduring sisterly love. The fact that they became a hit was secondary to the joy of being them. We opened the Emmy's in 1987 and back stage we decided to chat with George Will and Sam Donaldson in character. They shunned us as if we were two backstage barflies trying to slut it up with a couple of genuine prime time newsmen. No one enjoyed something like that more than Jan Hooks. She did have stage fright, but once in front of the camera, she carried the show. It was our costume designer, Pam Peterson, who found our lounge gowns and it became part of the gag that we wore them in every single sketch. I don't know where those dresses are now, but they should be in the Smithsonian. In our finest sketch, we performed with Mary Tyler Moore, who was the one and only third Sweeney sister.
I'm not ready to accept that Jan died, at 57. That's not fair. But neither is life. It's sorrowful, and there isn't one comedian worth her weight in salt if she doesn't understand that. No matter how long we are here, it's not long enough. But I always thought I'd see Jan again. I knew she wasn't well, but we always think things will get better. It takes a long time, a long history, to know that the best things, the best moments in life, are gone in what seems like a flash. She and I had our best moments together on television, and sometimes late at night in our offices where we were talking and not writing, and sometimes out in a so-so tavern in midtown Manhattan while we were drinking too much. She and I spent an evening with George Harrison in Lorne's office one night, drinking wine and playing records and listening to one of the Beatles, who was engaging and prolific, I remember her saying afterwards, "Did that really happen?" And I hear myself saying that now, as I read this piece. Did it?"
I know the image above looks like a typical poptechmotive poor quality photo but his is actually how Jan appeared on the sketch. The premise of the sketch had Jan as Bette Davis on a monitor in a lawyers office as her children are there to witness a "reading" of her video will. This is a great sketch with a unique premise and Jan is seen exclusively on a video monitor. A technicality of this setup was there were several instances where Bette is rambling on and they fast forward the video, as they do this Jan makes a high pitched sound to simulate the audio being fast forwarded. Whether or not intentional this was very funny. The hilarity culminates when Jan erupts into maniacal laughter after she joyously announces her daughter gets nothing after writing a nasty tell-all book.
"Love is a Dream" is a surreal, sentimental, and beautiful short film that was undoubtedly unexpected when it aired originally in the last half of Saturday Night Live. I'm sure it had people waiting for a punchline that never came. A gut punch came instead in this brief three and a half minute collaboration between Jan, Phil Hartman, Tom Shiller,and Neal Marshal. Tom Schiller had been a contributor of short films to SNL for some time in segments sometimes called Schillervision. This was used as a tribute to Phil Hartman then again as a tribute for Jan Hooks, I would have preferred the tribute for Jan was a collection of her work but, I understand how powerful this film is. The fact that it features two of my favorite performers who are no longer with us makes it that much more bittersweet. Jan and Phil complimented each other well and often appeared in sketches together on SNL. On the season three finale of 3rd Rock from the Sun Phil Hartman and Jan hooks were reunited as Phil portrayed Jan's character's jealous ex-boyfriend. It would be the last time Jan saw her very good friend. Phil Hartman was killed in 1998 by his obviously troubled wife.
This hillarious commercial parody that echoed the lofty, artsy Calvin Klein Obsession fragrance commercials of the day. It heavily featured a model looking Jan Hooks. The commercial was satire at it's best and also featured Phil Hartman and Dana Carvey "A little club soda will get that out," "LIAR!"
Another of my favorite players from the glory years of SNL is Kevin Nealon. Kevin wrote an intimate essay about Jan after her passing for TIME magazine. Thank you Kevin, for sharing these moments about Jan, we her fans, appreciate it.
"Jan Hooks was the real deal. She was funny, beautiful and staggeringly talented. Jan was an enormous part of my life, and I am extremely proud to say that she was my good friend. To her, I was Kevers and she was Janners. She loved nicknames. I knew Jan intimately; our years as pals, then several years of dating and then the incredible, hyperventilating roller-coaster ride starring on Saturday Night Live together. Jan and I became famous together. It was exciting and fun. It was our life now.
It would be entirely minimizing to say Jan Hooks was gifted. Her talent as a sketch player was amazingly profound and seemingly came without much effort. I honestly don’t remember her putting a ton of time or work into her characters or sketches, but when the cameras rolled she was money. It was as if it were all from another stratosphere and all so appealing. Until then I had never been so attracted to someone because of their talent. She was beyond brilliant. To this day I will occasionally see her on an SNL rerun and still be totally floored and smitten with her genius.
That said, and even with all that unbridled talent, being on SNL was not an easy adjustment for Jan. Just before she was selected to be a part of the cast, her mother tragically passed away, leaving a large void in her life. The stress of dealing with her mother’s death coupled with suddenly being on such a high-profile show was emotionally crippling for her. Unbeknownst to most people and many of the cast, she had developed paralyzing stage fright. I would often be up with her into the late hours of Saturday morning, trying to comfort and reassure her. I thought, How could someone so talented be so unsure of herself? Without fail, though, each Saturday night at 11:30, she courageously faced her demons and went in front of the cameras and millions of viewers, always nailing it. I was so proud of her and also relieved that it was over.
I will miss laughing with this woman. We had really hard laughs together. I remember us laughing at the oddest things too, and at times we didn’t even know why we were laughing.
Like many of us in this business, Jan was at times complicated and conflicted. Just after 9/11, she moved with her dog to upstate New York. She wanted to escape. She wanted her life to be private. She refused to get a cell phone or a computer. She didn’t want to be a part of that whole “technological surge.” It was only recently, when she got sick, that her brother hooked her up with her first cell phone and laptop. But that was Janners. She lived the life she wanted to. To me, it seemed as though she was shunning Hollywood. She didn’t want to continuously have to prove herself. If she wanted to, I believe Jan could have been a huge star. But ultimately her privacy was more important.
During the past two decades. I didn’t see too much of Jan but would occasionally touch base. Several times a year, we would reminisce on the phone and still laugh together … but maybe not quite as hard. Jan’s passing was a huge loss. I only hope she realized how respected and admired she was. She did not have to keep proving herself. From the reaction to her passing these past few days, it is obvious that she was loved.
Jan will always be in my heart, and I will always miss laughing with her."
"Jan Hooks was the real deal. She was funny, beautiful and staggeringly talented. Jan was an enormous part of my life, and I am extremely proud to say that she was my good friend. To her, I was Kevers and she was Janners. She loved nicknames. I knew Jan intimately; our years as pals, then several years of dating and then the incredible, hyperventilating roller-coaster ride starring on Saturday Night Live together. Jan and I became famous together. It was exciting and fun. It was our life now.
It would be entirely minimizing to say Jan Hooks was gifted. Her talent as a sketch player was amazingly profound and seemingly came without much effort. I honestly don’t remember her putting a ton of time or work into her characters or sketches, but when the cameras rolled she was money. It was as if it were all from another stratosphere and all so appealing. Until then I had never been so attracted to someone because of their talent. She was beyond brilliant. To this day I will occasionally see her on an SNL rerun and still be totally floored and smitten with her genius.
That said, and even with all that unbridled talent, being on SNL was not an easy adjustment for Jan. Just before she was selected to be a part of the cast, her mother tragically passed away, leaving a large void in her life. The stress of dealing with her mother’s death coupled with suddenly being on such a high-profile show was emotionally crippling for her. Unbeknownst to most people and many of the cast, she had developed paralyzing stage fright. I would often be up with her into the late hours of Saturday morning, trying to comfort and reassure her. I thought, How could someone so talented be so unsure of herself? Without fail, though, each Saturday night at 11:30, she courageously faced her demons and went in front of the cameras and millions of viewers, always nailing it. I was so proud of her and also relieved that it was over.
I will miss laughing with this woman. We had really hard laughs together. I remember us laughing at the oddest things too, and at times we didn’t even know why we were laughing.
Like many of us in this business, Jan was at times complicated and conflicted. Just after 9/11, she moved with her dog to upstate New York. She wanted to escape. She wanted her life to be private. She refused to get a cell phone or a computer. She didn’t want to be a part of that whole “technological surge.” It was only recently, when she got sick, that her brother hooked her up with her first cell phone and laptop. But that was Janners. She lived the life she wanted to. To me, it seemed as though she was shunning Hollywood. She didn’t want to continuously have to prove herself. If she wanted to, I believe Jan could have been a huge star. But ultimately her privacy was more important.
During the past two decades. I didn’t see too much of Jan but would occasionally touch base. Several times a year, we would reminisce on the phone and still laugh together … but maybe not quite as hard. Jan’s passing was a huge loss. I only hope she realized how respected and admired she was. She did not have to keep proving herself. From the reaction to her passing these past few days, it is obvious that she was loved.
Jan will always be in my heart, and I will always miss laughing with her."
Saturday Night Live is known for making careers. Some players merely become fan favorites while others reach super stardom. It would seem as a cash carrying customer that no matter where your favorite cast member settles, SNL studios has got you covered when it comes to their collection of "Best Of" DVDs. That is however not the case for fans of Jan Hooks. It really goes from annoying to anger inducing when you consider some of the cast members who have "earned" his or her (more commonly his) very own "Best Of" DVD collection available for sale online. Where is the Best of Jan hooks DVD? In fact there seems to be a void of female representation for any of the cast members from the 1986 -1991 era of SNL including Nora Dunn and Victoria Jackson. There are Chris Kattan, David Spade, Cheri Oteri "Best Of"s. Will Ferrell has three freakin' volumes of "Best Of" videos. It is made worse in that, although you can watch SNL in numerous instant online venues, no one is carrying complete uncut episodes. Unfortunately in most of the places where you can find SNL you will only find seeming arbitrarily chosen clips. The time has come for Lorne Micheals or whoever's decision it is, to release every episode in its entirety. One of my favorite sketches ever exists only in my mind because I cant find it anywhere! It starred Dana Carvey a man with Chapstick, then a parade of people including a prostitute and a bearded man eating chili ask to borrow the Chapstick, then get offended when he insists they keep it. So simple, so silly, yet so brilliant a premise. The sketch culminates on a large lipped space alien asking to borrow it as well. Jan hooks, by the way, was also is in this sketch. So even if Jan Hooks never receives a "Best Of" DVD if everything is released we can seek out and find hidden gems like these ourselves.
When Jan Hooks' 5 year contract ended in 1991, it coincided with Jean Smarts' exit from CBS' Designing Women. Jan, weary of SNL's endlessly hectic schedule, decided to join the cast. Although she seemed to be a good choice for the character being from the south in reality, I felt it limited her talent. I was longing to see her back on SNL in an revolving door of characters and personalities. Not being a fan of this show, although I had watched it in the past, it was at this time that Jan Hooks (for a time) fell off my radar.
From 1996 to 2000 Jan made potent guest appearances on 3rd Rock from the Sun as the trashy but likable Vicki Dubcek. She becomes French Stewart's (Harry) girlfriend. She matches Sterwart's eccentricities and their weirdness together as a couple is oddly endearing. The scene where they flirt incorporating Thanksgiving leftovers is strange and silly and makes you believe that there truly is someone special for everyone.
In the mid to late nineties Jan became well known for her voice work. She provided the voice for Apu's wife on The Simpsons, Bender's robotic girlfriend on Futurama, and her last credit in fact was voice work for The Cleveland Show, just to site a few.
Jan never took the expected trajectory of having her own SNL fame based movie career. Certainly if there was room in this world for Superstar (The Mary Katherine Gallagher movie) there could have been a Sweeny Sisters movie. Despite never having her own SNL spinoff she had brief but memorable roles in quite a few movies including Pee Wees Big Adventure, Wildcats, Funland, Batman Returns, Coneheads, A Dangerous Woman, Simon Birch, and Jiminy Glick in Lalawood. Her fleeting appearance in Pee Wee's Big Adventure as a sugary sweet tour guide who turns condescending as she delivers the terrible news that "there's no basement in the Alamo" remains one her most memorable moments. Being that this movies is a bonafide classic, it's nice to think that this performance, brief as it is, will live on forever.
In 2010 Saturday Night Live aired a special called The Women of SNL showcasing the extraordinary female talent from the shows then 36 year history. The retrospective featured players from practically all seasons and featured Nora Dunn, Molly Shannon, Laraine Newman, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Cheri Oteri, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and Rachel Dratch. When I first heard about this special I was excited. The last time I had seen Jan was on 3rd rock from the Sun in 2000, so I was eager to see her get some well deserved recognition. The special began with a mock reality show style reunion where a couch full of the SNL stars aired their petty grievances to one another. Jan was no where to be seen. The sketch was funny, but no Jan. Finally though they cut to Jan Hooks "via satellite" and there she is, almost unrecognizable, in bed smiling. She jokes that she is taking bed rest because she got two black eyes when her boobs hit her in the face as she fell down the stairs. There she was, there was silly Jan, but something was wrong. She looked so different. Then she says something in passing that had a heaviness to it. She said "Life is like live TV, you just go with it." It was then I realized she wasn't in a bed for a gag, she was actually sick. It is not uncommon for medications to change a person's appearance. Jan was a private person, there was no announcement she was ill, but that was how it seemed. There were a few other sketches showing Jan back in the day, but I felt she was under-utilized and under-recognized in this special. I felt sad seeing her that way.
Tina Fey sought out Jan to play a brief but reoccurring role on her hit show 30 Rock. At a recent Elle's Women in Hollywood Award ceremony she took time to recall how that came to be and also pay tribute to Jan.
“We needed to cast Jane Krakowski's estranged Florida dirtbag mother, and I thought, My God, do you think we could get Jan Hooks?
And the answer was like, 'Yeah, you can get her.' She was living in Woodstock. And the phone was not ringing.
She was actually a little shy about jumping back into the game, And she came down and she was so funny. We did a scene where Jenna and her mother are reunited and they sing their duet that they used to sing in pageants when Jenna was a child. And it was a mother and a daughter singing to each other, ‘Do that to me one more time . . . ’
And it was so funny and the crew was so mesmerized. It was all at once the most ridiculous and heartbreaking and beautiful and weird mother-daughter relationship, And I'm so proud of it.
It made me sad when she passed, and it made me mad at the time how available she was, Jan should have had a bigger career. Jan deserved a big movie career. Certainly as big as Rob Schneider's fucking career. She was a bigger star on S.N.L."
That night she dedicated her award to "Sweet Jan."
In her episodes of 30 Rock Jan looked better than she had in The Women of SNL special, she looked healthier. Even so, the reaction to her physical appearance on the show seemed to outweigh her performance. Among the internet chatter and blogspeak I remember one particularly mean spirited article that said something to the effect of "Jan hooks what happened? You used to be a hottie." These performances in 30 Rock would prove to be her last in front of a camera. She did however provided voice work for The Cleveland Show in 2013.
“We needed to cast Jane Krakowski's estranged Florida dirtbag mother, and I thought, My God, do you think we could get Jan Hooks?
And the answer was like, 'Yeah, you can get her.' She was living in Woodstock. And the phone was not ringing.
She was actually a little shy about jumping back into the game, And she came down and she was so funny. We did a scene where Jenna and her mother are reunited and they sing their duet that they used to sing in pageants when Jenna was a child. And it was a mother and a daughter singing to each other, ‘Do that to me one more time . . . ’
And it was so funny and the crew was so mesmerized. It was all at once the most ridiculous and heartbreaking and beautiful and weird mother-daughter relationship, And I'm so proud of it.
It made me sad when she passed, and it made me mad at the time how available she was, Jan should have had a bigger career. Jan deserved a big movie career. Certainly as big as Rob Schneider's fucking career. She was a bigger star on S.N.L."
That night she dedicated her award to "Sweet Jan."
In her episodes of 30 Rock Jan looked better than she had in The Women of SNL special, she looked healthier. Even so, the reaction to her physical appearance on the show seemed to outweigh her performance. Among the internet chatter and blogspeak I remember one particularly mean spirited article that said something to the effect of "Jan hooks what happened? You used to be a hottie." These performances in 30 Rock would prove to be her last in front of a camera. She did however provided voice work for The Cleveland Show in 2013.
Like the old saying "you don't know what ya got till its gone" it seemed since her passing the appreciation for Jan Hooks finally ripened. Even now several months after her death Jan Hooks' Starmeter (it's an IMDB thing) is up 1,114 this week and she is in the top 5000 searches on IMDB. Not bad Jan. Recently Rolling Stone magazine took it upon themselves to rank all 141 cast members based the impact they made. Jan Hooks came in at number 26. Not bad at all. Furthermore, when news hit the media of Jan's succumbing to the cancer that she had been battling for years on October 9th, 2014 at the age of 57 tributes from fans and celebrities soon flooded the Twittersphere. I only hope she knew how adored she was.
Goodbye Jan, you beautiful, funny lady. Your industry was laughter and the product of your work will go on and on. You will not be forgotten. My boy is two and a half now, but when he is old enough, and he too is figuring out what is funny in this often sad world. I will be thrilled to suggest that he check out the "glory years" of Saturday Night Live with my old friends Phil, Dana, Nora, Kevin and .....Jan.