Polly Holliday
Born	Polly Dean Holliday (1937-07-02)July 2, 1937 (age 87) Jasper, Alabama, U.S.
Alma mater	Alabama College, State College for Women Florida State University
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1963–2010
Awards	Alabama Stage and Screen Hall of Fame

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 sitcomAlice, 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 seriesAlice. She is the last surviving member of the show's main original cast.

Holliday was born inJasper, Alabama, the daughter of Ernest Sullivan Holliday, a truck driver, and Velma Mabell Holliday (née Cain).^[1] She grew up inChildersburg andSylacauga, where her brother Doyle's boyhood friend,Jim Nabors, lived.

Holliday attended the Alabama College for Women atMontevallo (now known as theUniversity 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 toFlorida 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 theAsolo Theatre Company inSarasota, Florida, where she stayed for 10 years.

Holliday is anEpiscopalian who sang in the St. Andrews Episcopal Choir inMobile, Alabama.^[2] In January 2010, she appeared as herself in an official advertising campaign for the Episcopal Church.^[3] In New York City, she sang in the Grace Church (Episcopal) Choral Society inGreenwich Village and ran a chamber music series there called the Willow Ensemble (1995–2008).

In 1973, Holliday moved to New York City and appeared inAlice Childress's playWedding Band at thePublic Theater. More than a year later, she was cast in the Broadway hitAll Over Town. While working onAll Over Town, she befriended the play's director,Dustin Hoffman, who later worked with her on the 1976 movieAll 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 sitcomAlice. Her character coined the popularcatchphrase "Kiss my grits!" The phrase became part of the American vernacular. Holliday starred inAlice from 1976 to 1980, and then moved to her own short-lived spin-off show, titledFlo, 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.^[4]

In 1983, Holliday joined the cast of the CBS-TV sitcomPrivate Benjamin as a temporary replacement for series regularEileen Brennan, who was recovering from serious injuries after being struck by a car.^[4]

Holliday also made appearances on television shows such asThe Golden Girls, where she playedRose Nylund's blind sister Lily, in arecurring role asJill Taylor's mother onHome Improvement, and a regular character onThe Client.

Holliday's notable film roles include appearances inAll the President's Men,Moon over Parador,Mrs. Doubtfire,The Parent Trap (1998), and the 1984 hitGremlins, in which she played Ruby Deagle and won theSaturn Award for Best Supporting Actress.

On the Broadway stage, she has appeared in revivals ofArsenic 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 aTony Award for her portrayal of Big Mama; andPicnic (1994). In 2000, she appeared atLincoln Center in a revival ofArthur Laurents'sThe Time of the Cuckoo.

In 2000, she was inducted into theAlabama Stage and Screen Hall of Fame.^[5]

With the death of co-starLinda Lavin in December 2024, Holliday is the last surviving member of the original cast ofAlice.

• Polly Holliday atIMDb
• Polly Holliday at theInternet Broadway Database
• Polly Holliday at theInternet Off-Broadway Database
• Polly Holliday biography, as part of the cast ofAlice
• Polly Holliday (Aveleyman)

• 1937 births
• Living people
• Actresses from Alabama
• People from Jasper, Alabama
• American film actresses
• American stage actresses
• American television actresses
• Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (television) winners
• Florida State University alumni
• 20th-century American actresses
• 21st-century American actresses
• American Episcopalians
• Actors from Walker County, Alabama

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• Internet Off-Broadway Database person ID same as Wikidata