Scottish comedian Janey Godley has died in a hospice “surrounded by her loved ones”, her management has confirmed.
In a statement, her manager Chris Davis said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our client Doctor Janey Godley on 2nd November.
“Janey died peacefully in the wonderful Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow surrounded by her loved ones.
“She will be hugely missed by her family, friends and her many fans.
“She will be remembered for her legendary voiceovers of Nicola Sturgeon during the pandemic, her hilarious and outspoken comedy, but most of all for just being ‘Janey’.”
Getty ImagesGodley revealed in September she had been receiving palliative care in a hospice.
In 2021, the stand-up comic revealed she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and cancelled her upcoming tour dates.
Janey GodleyAt the time, Godley’s daughter Ashley Storrie, also a comedian and writer, who often appears in her mum’s videos, said: “Devastation doesn’t touch the edges of how I feel right now.”
She underwent a hysterectomy and, in 2022, Godley was given the all-clear and said in a post to X that a scan showed “no evidence of disease”.
Plans were put in place for her to go back on tour.
But shortly before Christmas 2022, Godley revealed that her cancer had returned and that her 2023 tour “may be her last”.
In an emotional television interview on STV News, she said her cancer was “treatable but not curable”.
In September, as she was due to embark on the Why Is She Still Here? tour, which included dates across UK cities including London, Belfast and Edinburgh, her doctors advised her that she should stop working “for the foreseeable future”.
Her management announced her autumn tour was cancelled.
Days later, in an emotional video from a hospice bed, Godley confirmed she was receiving end-of-life care.
She continued to post sporadic updates about her palliative treatment.
On Thursday, Ashley Storrie said her mum was in the “final beats of her life”.
The University of Glasgow awarded Godley an honorary doctorate.
“This has brought her so much joy in the final beats of her life,” Storrie said.
“Janey is so honoured, and I am so immensely proud of her.
“Congratulations Doctor Godley.”
Tributes paid to ‘force of nature’
Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon lead the tributes to Janey Godley on Saturday, posting on X that the comedian was a “force of nature and one of the funniest people I have ever known”.
She said: “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.
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 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 that 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.
“The photos on this post are from an event we did together last year – it was a special night. I was so proud to call Janey a friend and will miss her hugely. My heart goes out to her family and many friends – they are in my thoughts today.
“I know Frank will have been there, holding the door for her as she went – with a tear in his eye, as I have in mine. RIP my friend.”
Godley’s daughter Ashley Storrie posted a clip on social media announcing the death of her mum, saying that she wanted to tell her fans “face to face as it felt very much what she would have wanted”.
She said: “She went peacefully and I want to thank all the staff at the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice and a big thank you to mum’s found family who were around her these last horrible days.
“Thank you for making a very very scary moment peaceful and a nice transition.”
Storrie also thanked her mum’s fans for their support, adding she believed in her “heart of hearts she felt every bit of love you sent her”.
She added: “Bye ma, Frank get the door.”
Author and former Communards member the Reverend Richard Coles and comedian Dom Joly were among the celebrities paying tribute to Godley.
Coles said in a post on X: “I loved @JaneyGodley. She made me laugh every day, she loved a sausage (dog), and no one has ever given a more comprehensive assessment of the personal qualities of the 45th president of the United States.
“#RIPJaney, and condolences to her family and friends.”
Joly posted on the social media platform: “RIP Janey Godley – she was one of a kind and a lovely, funny person.”
Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson said: “So hard to think of that great force and bright energy no longer in the world.
“My huge love to Ashley and family in their pain and loss.”
Obituary: ‘Frank, Get the Door’ – from pub landlady to viral comic sensation
Godley found viral fame with her dubbed pastiches of Nicola Sturgeon’s coronavirus news briefings during the pandemic.
Following a difficult childhood in the east end of Glasgow, she ran a pub in the Calton area of the city with her husband and his family during the 80 and 90s.
But it was Godley’s career switch to the stage in 1994 – by then in her mid 30s – that saw her rise to prominence in the public eye.
Among her most infamous stunts, was her “unwelcome” sign for Donald Trump which went viral during the then US President’s visit to Turnberry in 2016.
Then, during the coronavirus pandemic, it was her take Sturgeon’s daily Covid briefings that gained her a new following – with her catchphrase “Frank, get the door”.
But then scandal hit, and Godley was dropped from a Scottish Government health campaign after a series of offensive racist tweets that she made a decade earlier emerged.
The comic said she was ashamed of her tweets but insisted she was “not a racist”.
Within weeks of her apology – as she fought to rebuild her career and reputation – she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in November 2021.
She told STV News in an interview: “I apologised. If you know better, do better. There are words that I said on stage back then that I wouldn’t use now. The world has changed.”
In 2023, Janey won the inaugural Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow award, named in honour of a comedian who she had always admired.
Janey was also an author and actress, appearing in movies including Wild Rose and The Last Mermaid, as well as the TV series Traces.
A short play she wrote for the National Theatre of Scotland – called Alone – was filmed during the lockdown.
A documentary of Janey’s life premiered at this year’s Glasgow Film Festival. On-screen and on-stage, she spoke candidly of the abuse, trauma and poverty she experienced growing up in the 1960s in the Shettleston area of Glasgow.
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