Jan Hooks

NEW YORK — Former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Jan Hooks, whose impressions ranged from Nancy Reagan to Sinead O’Connor to Tammy Faye Bakker during a five-year stint on the show, has died.

The 57-year-old Hooks died Thursday in New York, according to her agent, Lisa Lieberman. She had no other details.

Hooks, a Decatur, Ga., native, moved into prime time in 1991 as a cast member on the sitcom “Designing Women.” She later did an Emmy Award-nominated turn on “3rd Rock From the Sun.”

She also appeared in 1992’s “Batman Returns” and voiced convenience store owner Apu’s wife on “The Simpsons.”

On “SNL,” she was part of a 1986 cast infusion that included fellow standouts Dana Carvey and Phil Hartman that helped the show after the previous season’s ratings dive.

“I was 15 years old when I first saw Jan Hooks on SNL. All of her characters spoke to me. She was one of the greats,” SNL alum Amy Poehler said in a statement.

A former member of the influential comedy troupe The Groundlings, she had been rejected twice before for a spot on the NBC comedy institution.

Besides impersonations that included Bette Davis and Hillary Rodham Clinton, Hooks won laughs for original characters such as Candy, half of the bouffant-haired Sweeney Sisters lounge act.

She jumped at the chance to move into prime time when asked to join the sitcom “Designing Women,” appearing in the 1991-93 final seasons.