( CNN ) -- Jan Hooks , the actress and comedian who rose to fame with sly turns on `` Saturday Night Live '' as Ivana Trump , Tammy Faye Bakker , Sinead O'Connor and as part of the lounge-singing Sweeney Sisters , has died . She was 57 . Her representative , Lisa Lieberman , confirmed the death to CNN . The cause of death was not revealed . In the late-'80s era of the show that also featured Phil Hartman , Dana Carvey , Nora Dunn and later Mike Myers , Hooks was the definition of a team player , always putting the sketch first . It was a character-actress attitude , one admired by others on the show . `` She was totally amazing as a sketch player , '' one of her colleagues , Kevin Nealon , told People magazine . `` She so immersed herself in her characters , and her timing was amazing . She got it from some crazy stratosphere , and I was so attracted to that talent in her , and I do n't think she ever knew how well respected and admired she was for her talent , '' said Nealon , who also dated Hooks for a while . Hooks ' ability can best be seen in her portrayal of Tammy Faye Bakker , part of the evangelist couple who co-founded the PTL Club and were later embroiled in scandal . Bakker , in many ways , was an easy target : an overwrought figure who wore heavy eye makeup , the very caricature of an evangelist 's wife . But Hooks found something deeper , as she showed in a `` Church Chat '' sketch during the days when PTL was in trouble due to a Jim Bakker affair and accusations of high living by the couple . Hooks also stood out with her portrayal of Candy Sweeney , the blonde half of an effervescent pair of lounge singers who ladled on bad jokes and schmaltzy versions of pop hits , ignorant of their over-the-top performances . They regularly included a clanging version of `` The Trolley Song '' from the '40s movie `` Meet Me in St . Louis . '' But Hooks generally shunned the star turns others took on the show . In `` The Sinatra Group , '' a parody of `` The McLaughlin Group '' led by Phil Hartman 's Frank Sinatra , she was a deadly serious Sinead O'Connor , letting Hartman get the laughs for his tough-talking Sinatra . Hooks was on `` SNL '' from 1986 to 1991 . She was n't planning to leave the show , she later said , but was offered a part on `` Designing Women '' and could n't pass up the opportunity . She played Carlene Dobber for two seasons on the show , which was set in Atlanta , right next to her hometown . Hooks was born in Decatur , Georgia , in 1957 . After moving to Florida and Texas in her teen years , she returned to Atlanta and joined a comedy troupe named the New Wit 's End Players , where she met writers Bonnie and Terry Turner . The three soon had jobs on a TBS show built around the offbeat Bill Tush , back when TBS was Ted Turner 's Atlanta Braves-airing `` SuperStation . '' ( Tush later became a CNN showbiz correspondent . ) The Turners -- no relation to Ted -- also worked on `` SNL '' and later created `` 3rd Rock from the Sun , '' which occasionally featured Hooks . Did you ever meet Hooks ? Share your photos and memories with CNN iReport . Hooks also appeared on `` 30 Rock '' and sometimes provided the voice of Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon , the wife of convenience store owner Apu , on `` The Simpsons . '' Hooks had roles in just a handful of movies , but her turn in `` Pee-Wee 's Big Adventure '' ( 1985 ) as an Alamo tour guide had many people sharing the scene on social media . `` Not now , but sometime this weekend I 'll think of Jan Hooks saying 'adobe ' and I 'll get tear-eyed . I know it . # RIPJanHooks , '' tweeted Patton Oswalt . Hooks also appeared in `` Batman Returns '' ( 1992 ) , `` Coneheads '' ( 1993 ) and `` Simon Burch '' ( 1998 ) . People we 've lost in 2014 . CNN 's Ralph Ellis contributed to this story .
Hooks launched her career on `` The Bill Tush Show '' in Atlanta . She was a regular guest host and reporter for the show from its inception until it ended in 1999. She played the character Carlene Dobber on `` Designing Women ''