Scottish comedian Janey Godley dies aged 63

2 November, 2024

Janey Godley

Scottish comedian Janey Godley has died aged 63.

The news was confirmed on X/Twitter today (November 2) by her daughter Ashley Storrie, who thanked Godley’s “found family” online for their support “throughout these last horrible days”. She went on say that she passed “peacefully”, and thanked the staff at the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice.

“I believe in my heart of hearts that she felt every bit of love you sent to her,” she said of Godley’s followers. “I think it kept her going, genuinely we got her longer because of all the support and the love in the world.”

She finished her video by saying “Bye Ma”, adding: “Frank, get the door” – a reference to a line in the comedian’s infamous parodies of Nicola Sturgeon.

Godley went viral in 2016 when she was pictured holding a placard that read “Donald Trump is a c*nt” at a protest against the former President on his visit to Scotland and went on to find new fans after doing voiceovers of Sturgeon’s Covid briefings. She later became friends with the former first minister, who has led tributes to the comic today.

Janey Godley protest
Scottish stand-up comedian Janey Godley gives a high-five to a police officer as she holds a sign in protest during the U.S. President’s visit to the United Kingdom on July 14, 2018 in Turnberry, Scotland. CREDIT: Leon Neal/Getty Images

“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,” wrote Sturgeon.

“A bond was forged between us in the darkest days of Covid when her famous voiceovers of my daily briefings went viral. In the toughest of times, she made people laugh – and that was precious. She did more than that though. In managing to project the serious public health messages of my briefings to a much wider audience than I would have managed alone, she helped save lives.”

Radio 4 comedy commissioning editor Julia McKenzie said Janey was “a brilliant storyteller who embodied the stoic nature of Glasgow”, and Dara Ó Briain said she was “a force of nature, she lived the hell out of life, and she will be sorely missed”. Check out more tributes below.

The comedian revealed she had ovarian cancer in November 2021, and returned to touring but was forced to cancel her 2024 autumn event dates in September. In a video shared in September, Godley said she would be getting palliative care and going into a hospice.

Godley has been a regular co-presenter on BBC Radio 4’s Loose Ends, as well as fronting BBC Radio 4 series The C Bomb. In 2023, she was honoured at the inaugural Sir Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival.

In a post on her X/Twitter account on Thursday, her daughter revealed Godley had been awarded an honorary degree from the University of Glasgow from her hospice bed, which she said had “brought her so much joy” in her final days.

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