The funeral of comedian Janey Godley was brought to a close with her catchphrase “Frank, get the door”, with former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon among the mourners.
The service was held at St Mary’s Cathedral in Glasgow on Saturday, and mourners wore an array of colourful outfits – at Godley’s request – on an overcast day in the city.
Beginning the funeral, the vicar said the comedian and writer, who died age 63 earlier this month receiving palliative treatment for terminal cancer, would be remembered with “kindness and with love” and added “forgiveness” was among the themes of the service.
Godley’s daughter Ashley Storrie told the congregation she had been asked to “headline” the funeral, adding she would not be able to repeat any of her mother’s jokes because she was in “a house of God”.
Storrie, 38, a Bafta-winning actress, screenwriter and radio presenter, said: “My mum is very grateful to all of you who came out yesterday to Edinburgh and lined the Royal Mile and lifted your voices in song, and the people who’ve come today to remember her in the best way possible.
“My mum was very much a daughter of Glasgow, she loved her city dearly, it was her favourite place in the whole wide world.
“The emblem of Glasgow is the tree that never grew, and the bell that never rang, and the bird that never flew, and the fish that never swam, and I think she took that as a challenge.
“It felt like the world was telling her, be quiet, stay small, don’t get big, so she did the opposite.
“She ventured far from her shore, she swam very far indeed.
“She travelled across the world where she found people who loved her in every corner, in New Zealand and Australia and Canada.
“And we once went to a place called Salt Spring Island, where we ended up staying with women who stole credit cards and ran a crab shop. We had to do a gig there, so it was tax deductible.
“She never quieted, no matter how many people told her, I remember one of my earliest memories of my mum is her standing behind the bar and people telling her, ‘you talk too much’, and her talking more just to spite them, and she grew bigger than she could have possibly imagined.”
Becoming emotional as she finished her speech, she told mourners: “For one last time, can you please put your hands together, for my ma, Janey Godley.”
A prayer Godley wrote as a child was read out during the proceedings, and a vicar told the story of how he met her when she wanted to look in the church but was worried it would “fall down” when she entered due to her jokes about religion.
He said she had been “making lists” of people she wanted to forgive before her death.
The vicar added: “Janey Godley died having forgiven everyone, but she still believed to her dying day that (Donald) Trump is a country mile away from being anyone who should ever have come near to power.”
The comment was greeted with cheers and applause from mourners, after Godley was photographed at Turnberry golf resort with her infamous “unwelcome” sign for the incoming US president in 2016.
As the funeral was brought to a close, her “Frank, get the door” catchphrase, which was part of Godley’s voiceover parodies of Ms Sturgeon’s coronavirus news briefings that saw her achieve viral fame during the pandemic, was played over the PA system and the doors of the church were opened.
During the service, a vicar remarked of her pandemic videos and jokes: “It’s no exaggeration to say that it’s likely there are people alive today because of Janey Godley, because of funny wee videos, and because of the truth she told on stage.
“Because she kept them going through lockdown, and because people were able to make use of the advice that they were being given through what she said.”
Godley had said Frank was based on a man who read “cowboy books” in a pub she worked in. The phrase was also the title of her 2020 book.
The comedian befriended former SNP leader Ms Sturgeon after making the videos, with the politician describing Godley as “a force of nature” and “one of the funniest people I have ever known” after her death.
Mourners, including actor Gavin Mitchell, who played Bobby the barman in BBC sitcom Still Game, followed as the coffin was carried out of the cathedral to the hearse and met with applause.
The funeral was held on the same day as a memorial service for former first minister and SNP leader Alex Salmond, at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh.
