# Polly Holliday

Polly Dean Holliday (born July 2, 1937) is an American retired actress who appeared on stage, television and in film. She is best known for her portrayal of sassy waitress Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry on the 1970s sitcom Alice, which she reprised in its short-lived spin-off, Flo. Her character's catchphrase of "Kiss my grits!" remains the most memorable line associated with the series Alice. She is the last surviving member of the show's main original cast.

## Early life

Holliday was born in Jasper, Alabama, the daughter of Ernest Sullivan Holliday, a truck driver, and Velma Mabell Holliday (née Cain). She grew up in Childersburg and Sylacauga, where her brother Doyle's boyhood friend, Jim Nabors, lived.
Holliday attended the Alabama College for Women at Montevallo (now known as the University of Montevallo) in the late 1950s where she excelled in the theater department, playing the lead roles in "The Lady's Not for Burning" and "Medea". She graduated in 1959 with a degree in piano. She went on to Florida State University, and spent the first phase of her career earning respect on the classical stage.
Holliday worked as a piano teacher in her native Alabama, and then in Florida. She began her professional acting career as a member of the Asolo Theatre Company in Sarasota, Florida, where she stayed for 10 years.
Holliday is an Episcopalian who sang in the St. Andrews Episcopal Choir in Mobile, Alabama. In January 2010, she appeared as herself in an official advertising campaign for the Episcopal Church. In New York City, she sang in the Grace Church (Episcopal) Choral Society in Greenwich Village and ran a chamber music series there called the Willow Ensemble (1995–2008).

## Career

In 1973, Holliday moved to New York City and appeared in Alice Childress's play Wedding Band at the Public Theater. More than a year later, she was cast in the Broadway hit All Over Town. While working on All Over Town, she befriended the play's director, Dustin Hoffman, who later worked with her on the 1976 movie All the President's Men.
In 1976, Holliday was cast—in what would be her major break—as sassy, man-hungry waitress Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry on the American sitcom Alice. Her character coined the popular catchphrase "Kiss my grits!" The phrase became part of the American vernacular. Holliday starred in Alice from 1976 to 1980, and then moved to her own short-lived spin-off show, titled Flo, in which Flo left Arizona and moved back home to Texas. The show was successful during its abbreviated first season, but ratings declined during the following season due to a time change, and it was canceled in 1981.
In 1983, Holliday joined the cast of the CBS-TV sitcom Private Benjamin as a temporary replacement for series regular Eileen Brennan, who was recovering from serious injuries after being struck by a car.
Holliday also made appearances on television shows such as The Golden Girls, where she played Rose Nylund's blind sister Lily, in a recurring role as Jill Taylor's mother on Home Improvement, and a regular character on The Client.
Holliday's notable film roles include appearances in All the President's Men, Moon over Parador, Mrs. Doubtfire, The Parent Trap (1998), and the 1984 hit Gremlins, in which she played Ruby Deagle and won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress.
On the Broadway stage, she has appeared in revivals of Arsenic and Old Lace (1986) as Martha Brewster, one of the dotty, homicidal, sweet old aunties; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1990), for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for her portrayal of Big Mama; and Picnic (1994). In 2000, she appeared at Lincoln Center in a revival of Arthur Laurents's The Time of the Cuckoo.
In 2000, she was inducted into the Alabama Stage and Screen Hall of Fame.
With the death of co-star Linda Lavin in December 2024, Holliday is the last surviving member of the original cast of Alice.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1975 | W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings | Mrs. Cozzens | |
| 1975 | Pittsville - Ein Safe voll Blut | Miss Pearson | |
| 1975 | Distance | Mrs. Herman | |
| 1976 | All the President's Men | Dardis's Secretary | |
| 1978 | The One and Only | Mrs. Crawford | |
| 1984 | Gremlins | Ruby Deagle | Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 1988 | Moon Over Parador | Midge | |
| 1993 | Mrs. Doubtfire | Gloria Chaney | |
| 1996 | Mr. Wrong | Mrs. Alston | |
| 1998 | The Parent Trap | Marva Kulp Sr. | |
| 2006 | Stick It | Judge Westreich | |
| 2007 | The Heartbreak Kid | Beryl | |
| 2010 | Fair Game | Diane Plame | Final film role |

### Television movies

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1974 | Wedding Band | Annabelle | |
| 1975 | The Silence | Mrs. Watson | |
| 1976 | Bernice Bobs Her Hair | Mrs. Harvey | |
| 1979 | You Can't Take It with You | Miriam Kirby | |
| 1981 | All the Way Home | Aunt Hannah | |
| 1982 | Missing Children: A Mother's Story | Mary Gertrude | |
| 1983 | The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story | Aunt Minerva | |
| 1985 | Lots of Luck | Lucille | |
| 1985 | Konrad | Berti Bartolotti | |
| 1991 | A Triumph of the Heart: The Ricky Bell Story | Ruth | |
| 1996 | A Loss of Innocence | Christina Eriksen | |
| 2004 | It Must Be Love | Mama Bell | aka Surviving Love |

### Television series

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1974 | Search for Tomorrow | Prison Inmate Leader | Unknown episodes |
| 1976 | NBC Special Treat | Mrs. Cronkite | Episode: "Luke Was There" |
| 1976–80 | Alice | Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry | 90 episodes Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (1979–80) Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1978–80) |
| 1980–81 | Flo | Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry | 29 episodes Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series |
| 1982 | American Playhouse | Mrs. Wooster | Episode: "The Shady Hill Kidnapping" |
| 1982–83 | Private Benjamin | Capt. Amanda Allen | 3 episodes |
| 1985 | Stir Crazy | Captain Betty | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1986 | The Golden Girls | Lily Lindstrom | Episode: "Blind Ambitions" |
| 1986 | Amazing Stories | Elma Dinnock | Episode: "The Pumpkin Competition" |
| 1988 | The Equalizer | Sister Sara | Episode: "Regrets Only" |
| 1993–99 | Home Improvement | Lillian Patterson | 5 episodes |
| 1995–96 | The Client | Momma Love | 21 episodes |
| 1996 | Homicide: Life on the Street | Mrs. Rath | Episode: "The Heart of a Saturday Night" |