Polly Holliday, the Tony-nominated stage and screen actor best known for playing the wisecracking waitress Flo Castleberry on the CBS sitcom Alice, died on Tuesday, September 9, at her home in New York City. She was 88. Her death was confirmed to The New York Times by her theatrical agent Dennis Aspland.
Holliday's portrayal of the flame-haired, gum-chewing diner waitress made the phrase 'Kiss my grits' a national catchphrase. Her deadpan Southern drawl often targeted the gruff diner owner Mel, played by the late Vic Tayback. She was the last surviving original cast member of the show, following the deaths of Linda Lavin (2024), Beth Howland (2015) and Philip McKeon (2019).
Born Polly Dean Holliday in Jasper, Alabama, on 2 July 1937, she studied theatre arts at Alabama College for Women and Florida State University before starting her professional career at the Asolo Theatre Company in Sarasota, Florida. After moving to New York, she appeared Off Broadway at the Public Theater in 1972 and later on Broadway in All Over Town, directed by Dustin Hoffman.
Holliday left Alice in 1980 to star in the short-lived spin-off Flo, which was cancelled in 1981. She later joined the cast of Private Benjamin and appeared on The Golden Girls as Lily, the blind sister of Rose Nylund. Her film credits include All the President's Men (1976), Gremlins (1984), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) and The Parent Trap (1998).
On Broadway, Holliday was nominated for a Tony Award for her portrayal of Big Mama in the 1990 revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Her final television credit was an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street in 1996, and her last film role was in Fair Game (2010).
