Polly Dean Holliday (July 2, 1937 – September 9, 2025) was an American actress of stage and screen. Holliday was best known for her portrayal of sassy waitress Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry on the 1970s sitcom Alice, winning two Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actress on the series. Her character's catchphrase "Kiss my grits!" enjoyed widespread popularity, and she reprised the role on Flo, a short-lived spin-off. Holliday won the 1984 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress portraying Ruby Deagle in Gremlins.
Early life Polly Dean Holliday was born in Jasper, Alabama, on July 2, 1937, the daughter of Ernest Sullivan Holliday, a truck driver, and Velma Mabell Holliday (née Cain). She grew up in Childersburg; her brother Doyle was a boyhood friend of Jim Nabors, who lived in nearby Sylacauga.
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.
Career In 1972, Holliday moved to New York City and appeared in Alice Childress' 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, with whom she later appeared in 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 Alice, a sitcom airing on CBS. Her character coined the popular catchphrase "Kiss my grits!", which became part of American vernacular. Holliday starred in Alice from 1976 to 1980, and then moved to her own short-lived spin-off show Flo, in which Flo moved back home to Texas from Arizona. 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 sitcom Private Benjamin as a temporary replacement for series regular Eileen Brennan, who was recovering from serious injuries after being struck by a car. She made appearances on television shows, including in The Golden Girls as Rose Nylund's blind sister Lily, in a recurring role as Jill Taylor's mother on Home Improvement, and as a regular character on The Client.
Holliday's film roles include appearances in All the President's Men (1976, as Martin Dardis' secretary), Moon over Parador (1988), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), and The Parent Trap (1998). In the 1984 hit Gremlins she played ruthless miser Ruby Deagle, winning the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her final credit was in the 2010 film Fair Game, in which she played Diane Plame, the mother of Valerie Plame.
On Broadway, she 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 as Best Featured Actress in a Play for her portrayal of Big Mama; and Picnic (1994) as neighbor Flo Owens. 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.
Personal life Holliday was an Episcopalian who sang in the St. Andrews Episcopal Choir in Montevallo, 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 Episcopal Grace Church Choral Society in Greenwich Village and ran a chamber music series there.
Death After a decline in her health, Holliday died from an apparent bout of pneumonia at her home in Manhattan, New York City, on September 9, 2025, at the age of 88. She was the last surviving member of the original cast of Alice. She never married or had children. She is buried at Green Hill Memorial Gardens in Childersburg, Alabama, beside her mother.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes1975W.W. and the Dixie DancekingsMrs. CozzensPittsville - Ein Safe voll BlutMiss PearsonDistanceMrs. Herman1976All the President's MenDardis's Secretary1978The One and OnlyMrs. Crawford1984GremlinsMrs. Ruby DeagleSaturn Award for Best Supporting Actress1988Moon Over ParadorMidge1993Mrs. DoubtfireGloria Chaney1996Mr. WrongMrs. Alston1998The Parent TrapMarva Kulp Sr.2006Stick ItJudge Westreich2007The Heartbreak KidBeryl2010Fair GameDiane PlameFinal film role
Television movies Year Title Role Notes1974Wedding BandAnnabelle1975The SilenceMrs. Watson1976Bernice Bobs Her HairMrs. Harvey1979You Can't Take It with YouMiriam Kirby1981All the Way HomeAunt Hannah1982Missing Children: A Mother's StoryMary Gertrude1983The Gift of Love: A Christmas StoryAunt Minerva1985Lots of LuckLucilleKonradBerti Bartolotti1991A Triumph of the Heart: The Ricky Bell StoryRuth Weidner1996A Loss of InnocenceChristina Eriksen2004It Must Be LoveMama Bellaka Surviving Love
Television series Year Title Role Notes1974Search for TomorrowPrison Inmate Leader6 episodes1976–1980AliceFlorence Jean "Flo" CastleberryMain role, 90 episodesGolden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film (1979–1980)Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1978–1980)1980–1981FloFlorence Jean "Flo" CastleberryMain role, 29 episodesNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Musical or ComedyNominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series1982American PlayhouseMrs. WoosterEpisode: "The Shady Hill Kidnapping"1982–1983Private BenjaminCapt. Amanda Allen3 episodes1985Stir CrazyCaptain BettyEpisode: "Pilot"1986The Golden GirlsLily LindstromEpisode: "Blind Ambitions"Amazing StoriesElma DinnockEpisode: "The Pumpkin Competition"1988The EqualizerSister Sara Episode: "Regrets Only"1993–1999Home ImprovementLillian Patterson 5 episodes1995–1996The ClientMomma LoveMain role, 21 episodes1996Homicide: Life on the StreetMrs. RathEpisode: "The Heart of a Saturday Night"
Stage + Year Title Role Notes 1971 Candida Candida Asolo Theatre Company 1971 The House of Blue Leaves Bananas Asolo Theatre Company 1972 Wedding Band Annabelle The Public Theater, Off-Broadway 1974 All Over Town Philomena Hopkins Booth Theatre, Broadway 1985 Black Coffee Miss Caroline Amory GeVa Theatre 1986 Arsenic and Old Lace Martha Brewster 46th Street Theatre, Broadway 1988 The Glass Menagerie Amanda Wingfield Guthrie Theatre 1990 Cat On A Hot Tin Roof Big Mama Eugene O'Neill Theatre, Broadway 1993 A Quarrel of Sparrows Rosanna Promenade Theater, Off-Broadway 1994 Picnic Flo Owens Criterion Center Stage Right, Broadway 1998 Marco Polo Sings a Solo Mrs. McBride Signature Theatre Company, Off-Broadway 2000 The Time of the Cuckoo Mrs. Edith McIlhenny Lincoln Center Theater, Off-Broadway 2001 Chaucer in Rome Dolo Lincoln Center Theater, Off-Broadway 2002 A Few Stout Individuals Mrs. Grant Signature Theatre Company, Off-Broadway 2002 Every Good Boy Deserves Favour Teacher Wilma Theater 2004 Free and Clear Matron Asolo Theatre Company
References
External links
Polly Holliday biography, as part of the cast of Alice Polly Holliday—at Aveleyman.com