22 Facts About Janey Godley

Jane Godley Currie, known professionally as Janey Godley, was a Scottish stand-up comedian, actress, writer and political activist.

Janey Godley began her stand-up career in 1994, and won various awards for her comedy in the 2000s.

Janey Godley was later diagnosed with ovarian cancer, from which she died in 2024.

Janey Godley was born Jane Janey Godley Currie, in Campsie, East Dunbartonshire, on 20 January 1961.

Janey Godley's parents were alcoholics and her mother was addicted to tranquilisers.

Janey Godley's uncle molested her and her sister for a number of years during their childhoods, crimes for which he was charged in 1993, being sentenced to two years in prison in 1996.

Annie went missing and was found dead in 1982 by the River Clyde; Janey Godley has stated that she believes that she was murdered by her abusive boyfriend Peter Greenshields.

Godley began her stand-up career in 1994 using her middle name as both the Storrie and Currie families had disappointed her and changed her name from Jane Godley Storrie to Janey Godley the following year.

Janey Godley won an award for the "Best Show Concept" at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival in 2002 and the "Spirit of the Festival" in 2006.

Janey Godley published her autobiography Handstands in the Dark in 2005.

In 2020, Janey 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, as part of the National Theatre of Scotland's Scenes for Survival webseries.

In September 2021, tweets Janey Godley had sent in 2011 were publicised by The Daily Beast, leading MSP Douglas Lumsden to question the decision to cast her in a pantomime performance of Beauty and the Beast.

Janey Godley apologised for the tweets and Public Health Scotland dropped her from a campaign.

Janey Godley was a strong advocate for the transgender rights movement, actively supporting protections for the international transgender community.

Janey Godley went viral that year after being pictured standing outside Donald Trump's Turnberry Golf resort holding a sign stating "Trump is a Cunt", having been prevented from approaching her subject by Police Scotland, and organised a protest in Glasgow just prior to the election of Trump as president.

Janey Godley ran a public house in Calton, Glasgow, with her husband and his family for 14 years during the 1980s and 1990s.

In 1982, when Janey Godley was 21, her mother died after drowning in the River Clyde.

Janey Godley believed that her mother was murdered by her mother's boyfriend, who she claimed was violent.

Janey Godley was never charged by police for Annie Currie's death despite calls from her family for an investigation.

In November 2021, Janey Godley announced via Twitter the cancellation of the last weekend of her tour, explaining that she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and was being treated in hospital, and underwent a full hysterectomy in January 2022.

Janey Godley was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow on 31 October 2024.

Janey Godley died at The Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow, on 2 November 2024, aged 63.