Janey Godley, who has died aged 63, turned an early life full of pain and tragedy into a successful comedy career.

A tough upbringing in Glasgow’s east end formed the basis of his sense of humour. Because he was often angry, he specialized in eliciting laughter from even the most unexpected things.

His behavior was a reflection of the city that shaped him: working class, foul-mouthed, angry and emotional at the same time. He was delivering his comedic asides at high speed and driving his points towards the target like a street fighter.

To his fans, he was one of them, and as his reputation grew, so did his influence. The former pub owner became close friends with former prime minister Nicola Sturgeon; After videos of FM performing at Covid press conferences became a viral sensation.

Jane Godley Currie was born in the Shettleston area of ​​Glasgow on 20 January 1961, the youngest of four children. Both of his parents were addicted to alcohol, and the family home was both chaotic and very poor.

As a young child, he was sexually abused by his uncle. Thirty years later in 1996, she and her sister went public to talk about the abuse after evidence convicted David Percy. He was sentenced to two years in prison.

In an interview at the time, she said: “We waited 30 years, but we did it, and we did it together. Anyone who has been abused knows that you can’t escape the guilt. But Percy was the one to blame.”

More tragedies occurred. In 1982, his mother Annie was found dead in the River Clyde. The man was never charged, although Godley was convinced he was killed by his violent boyfriend, despite the family’s calls for an investigation.

By then Godley was married and running a bar with her husband in the Calton area of ​​Glasgow. They had a daughter named Ashley Storrie, who would later follow her mother in comedy.

His mother-in-law has become an integral part of his comedy act. He often talked about his criminal connections, and it was a family dispute that led him to burst onto the scene in his mid-30s.

The split forced them to leave the bar, leaving them homeless and unemployed.

He occasionally performed at open mic nights, but started taking it more seriously. Years of honing his comic patter behind a bar helped him and he quickly settled into the comedy circuit.

His stage performance was uncompromising. He spoke to the Guardian about his material in 2019.

“I talked about my mother’s murder, child abuse, gangsters. Even the comics at the time were saying: ‘You shouldn’t talk about this.’ But I’m so glad I did it.

“The number of people who come up to me and say: ‘I’ve been abused and I’ve never laughed before.'”

As his fame grew, he wrote a memoir and a novel and became a regular at panel shows. He starred opposite Billy Connolly and the late Antony Bourdain and played a bartender in the movie Wild Rose.

Two things introduced him to a global audience and brought him into the world of politics.

In 2016, he was photographed at the Turnberry golf resort holding a sign with offensive words protesting a visit by the club’s owner, President Trump. The picture went viral.

Then, during Covid lockdowns, she began creating videos of Nicola Sturgeon voicing media briefings, portraying the first minister as an outspoken, occasionally foul-mouthed figure exhausted by the demands of the pandemic and fed up with media pressures. questions.

A staunch supporter of independence, she appeared on stage with Alex Salmond and was praised by Nicola Sturgeon.

That connection was tested in September 2021, when he was haunted by comments he shared on social media a decade ago.

He was removed as the face of the Scottish government’s health campaign and admitted the tweets contained “horrible, appalling implications”.

Two months later, Godley announced that she had ovarian cancer. He documented his illness and treatments on social media and by traveling.

For a while, he was thought to have recovered from the disease, but in December 2022, he announced that the disease had returned.

He was told he might die within a year, but he continued working. He made a BBC radio program about his condition and maintained a presence on Twitter.

He won the first Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award in April 2023.

He said: “She’s a great girl, a great comedian and an incredible life story.”

Godley said: “I can’t believe I won this. I won an award from a man I’ve admired since I was a kid.”

“This will be my tombstone,” he said, holding up his award.