Janey Godley (born Jane Godley Currie, January 1961) is a Scottish stand-up comedian, actress and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

from

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Early life

Jane Godley is the youngest of four children born to Annie and Jim Currie. She was raised on Kenmore Street in

Shettleston Shettleston ( sco, Shuttlestoun, gd, Baile Nighean Sheadna) is a district in the east end of Glasgow in Scotland. Toponymy The origin of the name 'Shettleston' is not clear and, like many place-names of possibly medieval origin, has had a mult ...

, a district in the East End of

and attended Eastbank Academy. Living in poverty, which was rife in the East End during that time, Godley left school at 16 with no qualifications. Her parents were alcoholic and her mother was also addicted to tranquilisers. Godley and her sister, Ann Crawford, were

sexually abused Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assau ...

by their maternal uncle, David Percy. Percy, who was 12 years older than Godley,

molested Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assau ...

her and her sister for a number of years during their childhoods. Percy was charged for the crimes in 1993 after the sisters decided to come forward, and was later found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison in 1996. Godley married Sean Storrie in 1980 at the age of 19. Storrie, who has

Asperger syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's, is a former neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of beha ...

, was born into a Glasgow

gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

family. Their daughter, Ashley Storrie (born 1986), who also has

autism spectrum disorder The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

, is a stand-up comedian and

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scotland, Scottish radio station, radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same na ...

presenter. Godley ran a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

Calton, Glasgow Calton ( gd, A' Challtainn, lit=the hazel wood, sco, Caltoun), known locally as The Calton, is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde, and just to the east of the city centre. Calton's most famous ...

with her husband and his family for 14 years during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1982, when Godley was 21, her mother died after drowning in the River Clyde. Godley believes that her mother was murdered by her violent boyfriend. He was never charged by police for Annie Currie's death despite calls for an investigation from her family. On 31 December 2010, her brother Mij Currie died from a drug-related illness.

Career

Godley began her stand-up career in 1994. Godley decided to use a stage name, saying to her husband: "I don't want to be Janey Storrie any more, because your family let me down, and I don't want to be Janey Currie because my family let me down. I'm going to use my middle name and legally become Janey Godley. The only family who haven't let me down are the Godleys because I don't know them." She legally changed her name from Janey Godley Storrie to Janey Godley in 1995. She won an award for the "Best Show Concept" at the

New Zealand International Comedy Festival {{Short description, Annual comedy festival in New Zealand The New Zealand International Comedy Festival is held simultaneously over three weeks during April/May in Auckland and Wellington. From its beginnings as a 2-day event, the Festival has n ...

in 2002, and the "Spirit of the Festival" in 2006. In 2005 her autobiography ''Handstands in the Dark'' was published. In 2006, she was a finalist for the Edinburgh Evening Times' "Scotswoman of the Year" award. In 2002, 2006, 2008 and 2009, she was nominated as "Best International Guest" by the New Zealand Comedy Guild. Her TV appearances include ''

River City ''River City'' is a Scottish television soap opera that was first broadcast on BBC One Scotland on 24 September 2002. ''River City'' follows the lives of the people who live and work in the fictional district of Shieldinch. In November 2017, a s ...

'', ''

Sam Delaney's News Thing ''Sam Delaney's News Thing'' is television programme produced by RT UK and presented by British journalist and broadcaster Sam Delaney, that aired every Saturday night from November 2015 until June 2018. Notable guest appearances included Ke ...

'', '' The Alex Salmond Show'', '' Have I Got News for You'' and ''

Traces Traces may refer to: Literature * ''Traces'' (book), a 1998 short-story collection by Stephen Baxter * ''Traces'' series, a series of novels by Malcolm Rose Music Albums * ''Traces'' (Classics IV album) or the title song (see below), 1969 * ''Tra ...

''. She appears in the film '' Wild Rose''. Godley often makes spoof

voice-overs Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. ...

of videos. In 2020, Godley wrote and starred in a series of short films titled ''Alone'', about a recently widowed housewife whose abusive husband has died of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

, as part of the

National Theatre of Scotland The National Theatre of Scotland, established in 2006, is the national theatre company of Scotland. The company has no theatre building of its own; instead it tours work to theatres, village halls, schools and site-specific locations, both at h ...

's ''Scenes for Survival''

webseries A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

. In December 2020, the Royal Society of Edinburgh commended Godley's voice-overs of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's COVID-19 briefings for helping engage the public with the warnings. In 2020, she won the Scots Language Award's Speaker of the Year Award. In September 2021, tweets Godley had sent in the past were publicised by ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

'', leading MSP Douglas Lumsden to question the decision to cast her in a pantomime performance of ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...

''. Some of these tweets included insults based on the Chernobyl disaster and disabilities, and racial insults towards African American musicians

Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. During the gr ...

, 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg. Godley apologised for the tweets. Additionally, she was dropped from a

Public Health Scotland Public Health Scotland (PHS) is the national public health body for Scotland. It is a Special NHS Health Board, and it is jointly accountable to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and the Scottish Government. Fully exercising ...

campaign. In November 2021, Godley announced via Twitter the cancellation of the last weekend of her tour, explaining that she had been diagnosed with

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different c ...

and was being treated in hospital. She had a full hysterectomy in January 2022 and announced in June that she was cancer-free. On 13 December 2022, she announced that her cancer had returned and that she would need further

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs ( chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemothe ...

Political activism

Godley is a supporter of Scottish independence. She describes herself as "anti-Tory". She formerly supported the Conservatives in her youth and once met

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

at a Scottish Conservative Party Conference in Perth. In February 2016, Godley joined a group of comedians on a tour of the UK in support of Labour party leader

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...

, although she is a supporter of the Scottish National Party. In 2016, Godley was pictured standing outside

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

's Turnberry Golf resort holding a sign stating "Trump is a Cunt", which went viral. She was prevented from approaching her subject by

Police Scotland Police Scotland ( gd, Poileas Alba), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist service ...

. Following a protest in Glasgow which she organised in November 2016 just prior to the election of Trump as President, she received rape threats through

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

Books

* * Illustrated by Christina Connelly *

References

External links

Janey Godley's official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Godley, Janey 1961 births Living people People from Calton Scottish autobiographers Scottish stage actresses Scottish bloggers Scottish stand-up comedians Scottish women comedians Scottish women writers Scottish women bloggers Comedians from Glasgow 20th-century Scottish comedians 21st-century Scottish comedians Women autobiographers 20th-century Scottish women