Jan Hooks

Acting

Jan Hooks

Born — Died

1957-04-23 — 2014-10-09

Place of birth

Decatur, Georgia, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

34 titles

Janet Vivian Hooks (April 23, 1957 – October 9, 2014) was an American actress and comedian. Hooks was best known for her tenure on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, where she was a repertory player from 1986 to 1991. After leaving SNL, she continued to make cameo appearances until 1994. Her subsequent work included a regular role on the last two seasons of Designing Women, a recurring role on 3rd Rock from the Sun, and a number of other film and television roles, including on 30 Rock and The Simpsons.

Known for

The Simpsons poster
8.0

Set in Springfield, the average American town, the show focuses on the antics and everyday adventures of the Simpson family; Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, as well as a virtual cast of thousands. Since the beginning, the series has been a pop culture icon, attracting hundreds of celebrities to guest star. The show has also made name for itself in its fearless satirical take on politics, media and American life in general.

The Simpsons

1989

Saturday Night Live poster
6.9

A late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels. The show's comedy sketches, which parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers an opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, and features performances by a musical guest.

Saturday Night Live

1975

Futurama poster
8.4

The adventures of a late-20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J. Fry, who, after being unwittingly cryogenically frozen for one thousand years, finds employment at Planet Express, an interplanetary delivery company in the retro-futuristic 31st century.

Futurama

1999

30 Rock poster
7.5

Liz Lemon, the head writer for a late-night TV variety show in New York, tries to juggle all the egos around her while chasing her own dream.

30 Rock

2006

3rd Rock from the Sun poster
7.5

The high commander of an alien expedition lands on Earth -- what he considers to be the least-important planet -- in human form as Dick Solomon. Along for the ride are his alien compatriots Harry, Sally and Tommy -- who is the eldest of the group but is now angrily trapped in a teen's body.

3rd Rock from the Sun

1996

Batman Returns poster
7.0

The monstrous Penguin, who dwells in the sewers beneath Gotham, joins up with corrupt mayoral candidate Max Shreck to topple the Batman once and for all. But when Shreck's timid assistant Selina Kyle finds out, and Shreck tries to kill her, she's transformed into the sexy Catwoman. She teams up with the Penguin and Shreck to destroy Batman, but sparks fly unexpectedly when she confronts the caped crusader.

Batman Returns

1992

Film credits

1990s · 9 titles

Batman Returns poster
7.0

The monstrous Penguin, who dwells in the sewers beneath Gotham, joins up with corrupt mayoral candidate Max Shreck to topple the Batman once and for all. But when Shreck's timid assistant Selina Kyle finds out, and Shreck tries to kill her, she's transformed into the sexy Catwoman. She teams up with the Penguin and Shreck to destroy Batman, but sparks fly unexpectedly when she confronts the caped crusader.

Batman Returns

1992

Coneheads poster
5.5

A pair of aliens arrive on Earth to prepare for invasion, but crash instead. With enormous cone-shaped heads, robotlike walks and an appetite for toilet paper, aliens Beldar and Prymatt don't exactly blend in with the population of Paramus, N.J. But for some reason, everyone believes them when they say they're from France.

Coneheads

1993

Simon Birch poster
6.9

Simon Birch and Joe Wenteworth are boys who have a reputation for being oddballs. Joe never knew his father, and his mother, Rebecca, is keeping her lips sealed no matter how much he protests. Simon, meanwhile, is an 11-year-old dwarf whose outsize personality belies his small stature. Indeed, he often assails the local reverend with thorny theological questions and joins Joe on his quest to find his biological father.

Simon Birch

1998

Frosty Returns poster
5.7

Mr. Twitchell, a greedy old businessman, has invented Summer Wheeze: a spray that instantly removes snow and slush! Now Holly has to keep Frosty from melting, and convince everybody that snow's actually a good thing.

Frosty Returns

1992

Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary Special poster
6.9

A TV special celebrating the 25th anniversary of Saturday Night Live. Before a celebrity audience, many of the former cast members and guest hosts return to perform their signature monologues and present a look back at some of the best comedy skits and musical numbers of the past two and a half decades.

Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary Special

1999

Saturday Night Live: Christmas poster
5.6

Join the epic "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" cast of Saturday Night Live regulars in a hilarious compilation of the best holiday moments from the show's Christmas specials. Some of the highlights include "Martha Stewart's Topless Christmas Special," "The Lost Ending to It's a Wonderful Life," "The Night Hannukah Harry Saved Christmas," "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood on Christmas" and, of course, the Church Lady's drum solo.

Saturday Night Live: Christmas

1999

Saturday Night Live: Christmas poster
5.6

Join the epic "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" cast of Saturday Night Live regulars in a hilarious compilation of the best holiday moments from the show's Christmas specials. Some of the highlights include "Martha Stewart's Topless Christmas Special," "The Lost Ending to It's a Wonderful Life," "The Night Hannukah Harry Saved Christmas," "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood on Christmas" and, of course, the Church Lady's drum solo.

Saturday Night Live: Christmas

1999

A Dangerous Woman poster
5.5

Martha Horgan is a withdrawn, mentally disabled woman who lives with her aunt, Frances. One of Martha's unusual traits is that she doesn't lie, a quality that leads to her getting fired from a dry-cleaning shop thanks to the actions of the shifty Getso. Conflict seems to follow Martha, since she also becomes romantically involved with local fix-it man, Mackey, who is sleeping with Frances as well.

A Dangerous Woman

1993

The Show Formerly Known as the Martin Short Show poster
8.5

Late night, sketch/variety comedy special starring comedian Martin Short. It features most of Marty's classic characters: Ed Grimley, Jackie Rogers Jr, Irving Cohen, and, from the SNL days, lawyer Nathan Thurm.

The Show Formerly Known as the Martin Short Show

1995

1980s · 6 titles

Series credits

The Simpsons poster
8.0

Set in Springfield, the average American town, the show focuses on the antics and everyday adventures of the Simpson family; Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, as well as a virtual cast of thousands. Since the beginning, the series has been a pop culture icon, attracting hundreds of celebrities to guest star. The show has also made name for itself in its fearless satirical take on politics, media and American life in general.

The Simpsons

1989

Saturday Night Live poster
6.9

A late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels. The show's comedy sketches, which parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers an opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, and features performances by a musical guest.

Saturday Night Live

1975

Saturday Night Live poster
6.9

A late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels. The show's comedy sketches, which parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers an opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, and features performances by a musical guest.

Saturday Night Live

1975

Futurama poster
8.4

The adventures of a late-20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J. Fry, who, after being unwittingly cryogenically frozen for one thousand years, finds employment at Planet Express, an interplanetary delivery company in the retro-futuristic 31st century.

Futurama

1999

30 Rock poster
7.5

Liz Lemon, the head writer for a late-night TV variety show in New York, tries to juggle all the egos around her while chasing her own dream.

30 Rock

2006

3rd Rock from the Sun poster
7.5

The high commander of an alien expedition lands on Earth -- what he considers to be the least-important planet -- in human form as Dick Solomon. Along for the ride are his alien compatriots Harry, Sally and Tommy -- who is the eldest of the group but is now angrily trapped in a teen's body.

3rd Rock from the Sun

1996

Fish Hooks poster
6.5

This inventive animated comedy series, set inside a giant fish tank in Bud's Pet Shop, presents high school life as seen through the eyes of three BFFs (best fish friends), Bea, Milo and Oscar. Together they experience the typical life challenges and triumphs, including friendship, dating and sports, along with more atypical situations such as giant lobster attacks and, with the use of special land suits, school field trips to the hamster cages. The series was created by children's book illustrator Noah Z. Jones and features a notable voice cast. It's produced using an innovative mixture of digital animation and photo collage

Fish Hooks

2010

Providence poster
6.7

Providence is an American television drama series.

Providence

1999

Dear John poster
5.7

Dear John starred Judd Hirsch as easygoing Drake Prep high school teacher John Lacey who is dumped by his wife, Wendy, via a Dear John letter. Wendy ends up with everything in the divorce settlement, including custody of the couple's son, forcing John to move into an apartment in Ozone Park, Queens. John soon joins the One-2-One Club, a self help group for divorced, widowed or lonely people. The group is led by Louise (Jane Carr), a sex-obsessed British woman. Other members of the group include Kate McCarron (Isabella Hofmann), a sweet divorcée; Kirk Morris (Jere Burns), a cocky ladies' man; Ralph Drang (Harry Groener), a shy and neurotic tollbooth collector; Bonnie Philbert (Billie Bird), a feisty senior citizen; and Tom, Mrs. Philbert's quiet boyfriend (Tom Willett).

Dear John

1988

Designing Women poster
6.8

Julia Sugarbaker, Mary Jo Shively, Charlene Frazier-Stillfield and Suzanne Sugarbaker are associates at their design firm, Sugarbaker and Associates. Julia is the owner and is very outspoken and strong-willed. Mary Jo is a divorced single-parent whom is just as strong-willed as Julia, but isn't as self-confident. Charlene is the naive and trusting farm girl from Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Suzanne is the self-centered ex-beauty queen whom has a number of wealthy ex-husbands.

Designing Women

1986

Not Necessarily the News poster
6.9

Not Necessarily the News is a satirical sketch comedy series that first aired on HBO in September 1982 as a comedy special, and then ran as a series from 1983 to 1990. It featured sketches, parody news items, commercial parodies, and humorous bits made from overdubbing or editing actual news footage. It was based on the British series, Not the Nine O'Clock News. Not Necessarily the News was also the birthplace of Rich Hall's sniglets.

Not Necessarily the News

1983

Primetime Glick poster
7.2

Talk-show parody featuring obese host Jiminy Glick, who usually knows nothing about his guests and hurls veiled insults at them during his interviews.

Primetime Glick

2001

The Martin Short Show poster
6.5

A syndicated talk show hosted by actor Martin Short with announcer/sidekick Michael McGrath.

The Martin Short Show

1999

Game Over poster
5.5

Game Over is an American computer-animated television series created by David Sacks, produced by Carsey-Werner Productions, and broadcast on UPN in 2004. It was canceled due to low ratings. Game Over focused on what happens to video game characters after the game ends. The show is based around the Smashenburns, a far-from-ordinary suburban family that lives in an alternate video game universe.

Game Over

2004

No artwork available
7.0

The former `Saturday Night Live' regular plays a variety-show host who's ready for prime time. This series was not; it aired only three episodes and spawned an `SNL' spoof called `The Show Formerly Known as the Martin Short Show.'

The Martin Short Show

1994

The 1/2 Hour Comedy Hour poster
NR

Arsenio Hall and Thom Sharp hosted this short-lived comedy show aired Tuesday nights on ABC.

The 1/2 Hour Comedy Hour

1983