Janey Godley, the Scottish comedian and author whose quick wit led her to swap pint-pulling in Glasgow for international standup tours, has died aged 63.
She died in a hospice “surrounded by her loved ones”, her management said on Saturday. Godley had announced she was receiving palliative care in September after her terminal cancer spread.
Over a career spanning standup comedy, novel-writing and viral videos, Godley’s storytelling and candour attracted a legion of fans. The Guardian’s comedy critic Brian Logan described her as “a comic who found a place, particularly in Scottish hearts, and carved her own niche”.
Godley’s daughter, the BBC Radio Scotland presenter Ashley Storrie, said the support of her mother’s fans had helped sustain her as she lived with her illness. “I want to thank all of you for all of your kindness and your support. I believe in my heart of hearts that she felt every bit of love you sent to her. And I think it kept her going,” she said.
“I think genuinely we got her longer because of all of the support and the love in the world. But that’s it over now. So, thank you once again and bye Ma – Frank, get the door.”
Nicola Sturgeon, whom Godley parodied in some of her most celebrated work, paid tribute on Saturday, saying: “Knowing for the past few weeks that this moment was fast approaching didn’t make it any less heartbreaking to hear the news early this morning that Janey had died.
“Janey Godley truly was a force of nature, and one of the funniest people I have ever known. I was able to visit her in the hospice a couple of weeks ago and, though she was fragile, she still had me in stitches. Janey was also incredibly kind. And she made the world a better place.”
A 15-year stint behind the bar of a Glasgow pub gave Godley her first taste of performance. “I was funny behind the bar,” she told the Guardian in 2005. Invited to perform at an open-mic comedy night in her 30s, her natural ability as a storyteller and quick audience patter meant she excelled: “People would be amazed at my crowd control because I could shut up 700 loud drunks, but that’s just being a good barmaid. When I started doing comedy, I felt like I’d come home.”
Born in Campsie, Scotland, in January 1961, Godley grew up in Glasgow’s east end, enduring a difficult childhood, which she recounted in her 2005 memoir Handstands in the Dark. Raised by alcoholic father Jim Currie and debt-prone mother Annie, she was sexually abused by an uncle, who was sentenced for his crimes in 1996.
In her late teens, she married Sean Storrie, part of a notorious Glasgow gangster family. The couple eventually cut ties with his family to build a new life for themselves, but not before facing serious crime, while Godley also had to cope with the death of her mother, who she believed was murdered.
She never shied away from joking about dark subjects, drawing on these formative experiences. “One of the most important things about comedy is nobody gets to tell you what you can joke about, as long as you’re punching up,” she told the Guardian in 2019.
Her onstage success led to spots on Radio 4’s Just a Minute and TV appearances on shows including Have I Got News For You, Scottish soap opera River City, and crime drama Traces.
In 2016, in characteristic straight-talking style, she greeted Donald Trump at his Turnberry Golf Resort in Scotland holding a sign reading “Trump is a cunt”. The image went viral online.
In 2019, Godley began making comedy videos, voicing Sturgeon’s inner monologue over clips of the then Scottish first minister executing official duties. Their online success brought a new wave of fans. In 2022, she turned her hand to fiction, writing Nothing Left Unsaid, a murder mystery set in 1970s Glasgow.
While Godley toyed with Thatcherism in early life, in recent years she railed against the likes of Boris Johnson and added her voice to the pro-independence cause in Scotland. She used her online presence to support the SNP and condemn transphobia, and also regularly shared updates of sausage dog Honey.
Godley gave birth to Ashley in 1986. Storrie followed in her mother’s footsteps, becoming a professional comedian. The two created online sketches together and co-starred in sitcom Dinosaur, while Storrie supported Godley on her final standup tour, Not Dead Yet.
Godley was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer in 2021. The cancer returned in 2023, prompting Godley to embark on her final tour. In it, she regaled audiences with tales from her extraordinary life, showing for a final time her talents as a raconteur.
In September, she cancelled her autumn tour, after initially hoping she would be able to continue touring.
In a post on her X account on Thursday, her daughter Ashley revealed that Godley had been awarded an honorary degree from the University of Glasgow, which she said had “brought her so much joy” in her final days.
• This article was amended on 2 November 2024 to correct a reference to Janey Godley’s diagnosis.
