Polly Holliday, the character actress best known for playing the feisty waitress Flo on the classic sitcom Alice, died on Tuesday. She was 88 years-old.
Holliday’s death was confirmed by Dennis Aspland, her theatrical agent and close friend. He told The New York Times that Holliday died at her home in Manhattan. Holliday’s death comes less than a year after the death of her Alice co-star Linda Lavin. She passed away at the end of December at the age of 87. She leaves no immediate survivors.
Holliday’s Most Famous Role
Holliday skyrocketed to fame in the 1970s when she was cast as Florence Jean ‘Flo’ Castleberry in Alice. Daily Mail described the character as being a “witty, gum-snapping waitress with a sharp tongue.” Indeed, Flo even had her own catchphrase, often telling people to “kiss my grits.”
Holliday was born to a housewife mother and a trucker father in Jasper, Alabama on July 2, 1937. She drew on her own experiences traveling with her father in his truck as a child to play Flo.
“We’d eat at truck stops, and there would always be a waitress like Flo with a joke ready,” she recalled in a 1980 interview. “The men would say all kinds of risqué things to her, but it was understood that it wasn’t serious, just a way to make everybody’s day happier.”
“I think I brought a complete knowledge of that type of woman to that role,” Holliday later said in 2003. “She was a Southern woman you see in a lot of places — not well-educated but very sharp, with a sense of humor and a resolve not to let life get her down.”
Holliday’s Spinoff
Holliday wore an iconic bouffant red wig to play Flo, who was a version of the character originated by Diane Ladd in the 1974 film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, which was directed by Martin Scorsese. Holliday played Flo on four seasons of Alice. She left after the 1979-1980 season, when she was given her own spinoff sitcom that was fittingly titled Flo. That show ran from 1980 until 1981.
For her portrayal of Flo, Holliday won Golden Globes in 1979 and 1980. She also received four Emmy nominations, one of which was for playing the character in the spinoff.
There were rumors that there were tensions between Holliday and Lavin. Since Lavin the title character of Alice, there was gossip that she was jealous of the attention Holliday’s Flo got from fans. Holliday always denied this, however.
“People assumed that because Flo was very big that Linda must have had her nose out of joint,” Holliday said in 1980. “Well, Linda’s a bigger person than that.”
Holliday’s Film Roles
Aside from her TV work, Holliday had memorable roles in movies. Her films included classics like All The President’s Men (1976), Gremlins (1984), Moon Over Parador (1988), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Mr. Wrong (1996), The Parent Trap (1998) and The Heartbreak Kid (2007).
In theater, Holliday received a Tony nomination in 1990 for playing Big Mama in a revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Despite all of these roles, Holliday will always best be remembered for Flo and her iconic “kiss my grits” catchphrase. When asked about this line in 2003, Holliday recalled that “when the writers gave it to me, I said, ‘What is this supposed to mean? Why am I saying that?’”
Holliday was then asked what she typically did when fans would ask her to say the catchphrase. She replied, “I usually just smile and say, ‘Oh, I’m sure you could do it better.’”
Rest in peace, Polly Holliday.