Kevin Nealon Remembers SNL Castmate Jan Hooks: 'Her Timing Was Amazing'

Yesterday, BWW reported the sad news that SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE veteran Jan Hooks passed away on Thursday, October 9, 2014, after battling a serious illness. She was 57.

In today's PEOPLE, Kevin Nealon took time to remember his good friend and SNL co-star. "I was friends with her for a long time, and then we started dating for a while, and then we were on SNL together. I think the whole experience of going to New York to be on a show like SNL, I think about that a lot," the actor told PEOPLE at AOL's Fall Programming Premiere Event in Los Angeles.

He continued, "She was totally amazing as a sketch player. 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 don't think she ever knew how well respected and admired she was for her talent."

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The 60-year-old also shared one particular memory that really gave him a laugh. "She had a cat door in her apartment in Studio City," he said. "And a possum would come in every once in a while to eat out of the cat bowl. And she would let it, and it became a friend of hers. She called it Uncle Joe, because it was 'moving kinda slow.' "

Hooks appeared as part of SNL's main cast from 1986 to 1991 alongside stars Chris Farley, Mike Myers, Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey and Dennis Miller. Among her most famous bits were her impressions of Sinead O'Connor, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Reagan, Jodie Foster and more, plus her role as 'Candy Sweeney' of the Sweeney Sisters with Nora Dunn.

Among her other TV credits are Designing Women, 3rd Rock from the Sun -- which earned her an Emmy nod in 1998 -- The Martin Short Show, The Simpsons, the movie Pee-Wee's Big Adventure and most recently, 30 Rock.

Photo by: Photo by: Raymond Bonar/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank

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