Scottish comedian, writer, actress and political activist Janey Godley died on Saturday, November 2, at the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow.
She was diganosed with ovarian cancer in 2021 and, despite receiving the all-clear from doctors following a hysterectomy a few months later, she announced the cancer had returned and spread by the end of 2022.
Godley was brought up in poverty in Glasgow’s Shettleston neighbourhood by parents with addiction issues and was abused by her uncle for a number of years. He would later serve two years in prison after being convicted of the offences.
She ran a pub in Calton with her husband and his family for 14 years, but branched out by making her debut as a standup in 1994.
Over the next 30 years she became one of the best-known faces in Scottish comedy, selling out numerous tours, writing a best-selling autobiography called Handstands in the Dark, and appearing on television in shows such as Have I Got News for You.
Then there was the infamous picture of her outside Trump Turnberry holding a placard declaring him a ‘runt’, shared around the world.
She reached a new audience over the global pandemic when she started to release voice-over videos of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s daily briefings which were viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
Awards included the Scots Language Award's Speaker of the Year Award and the the inaugural Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award.
And a film following her on the 2023 ‘Not Dead Yet Tour’, following her cancer diagnosis, opened this year’s Glasgow Film Festival.
Here are 10 quotes that show she was as fearless in interviews as he was in life.
5. Janey Godley on...class
“I still see myself as working class, I still have that fear. I still lie in bed at night and think what if I’ve no money and I can’t pay the electricity and can’t feed Ashley and I can’t put socks on her feet and I can’t, what if it all goes? I still have that fear." | Contributed
6. Janey Godley on...making viral videos
“Here’s the thing; women my age are constantly being told we don’t know how to work the internet. But I nailed it. I showed these 22-year-olds how it’s done.” | National Word
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7. Janey Godley on...politicians
“You see, the bottom line is I don’t care about someone’s politics. I won’t stand up for anyone if they do something wrong. Even if you’re SNP you’ll get a kick in the balls.” | Contributed
8. Janey Godley on...comedy
"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 and not punching down." | Contributed