Polly Holliday, a Tony Award–nominated stage actor and television star best known for playing the gum‑chewing, beehive‑wearing waitress Flo on the long‑running CBS sitcom Alice, died Tuesday at her home in New York. She was 88, her theatrical agent, Dennis Aspland, said.
Holliday’s portrayal of Flo — and the catchphrase “Kiss my grits!” — made her a national figure and led to a short‑lived spin‑off, Flo, in 1980. Alice ran from 1976 to 1985, and Holliday earned widespread recognition for the role, including four Golden Globe nominations and a win in 1980; she also received four Emmy nominations, three for Alice and one for Flo. She was the last surviving member of the principal cast of Alice; Linda Lavin, who played the title character, died last year.
Born in Alabama, Holliday built a career that crossed stage, film and television. On Broadway she earned a Tony nomination for a 1990 revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opposite Kathleen Turner. Her stage credits also included All Over Town (1974), directed by Dustin Hoffman, a 1986 production of Arsenic and Old Lace with Jean Stapleton and Abe Vigoda, and a 1994 revival of Picnic with Kyle Chandler. Off‑Broadway, she appeared in A Quarrel of Sparrows, a performance The New York Times said radiated "a refreshingly touching air of willed, cheerful imperturbability."
Her film and television work was wide ranging. She played the wicked Mrs. Deagle in Gremlins, appeared in All the President’s Men, and had roles in a screen adaptation tied to John Grisham’s The Client. On television she guest‑starred in popular shows including Golden Girls — as the blind sister to Betty White’s character — and Home Improvement, where she played Tim Allen’s sassy mother‑in‑law.
Despite the lasting association with Flo’s famous line, Holliday often downplayed the catchphrase’s origins. She told interviewers that “Kiss my grits!” was "pure Hollywood" rather than a regional saying, even as she embraced elements of the character. In a 2003 interview with The Sarasota Herald‑Tribune, she said Flo represented “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.”
Critics and colleagues praised Holliday’s range and presence across mediums. Her television success in the late 1970s and early 1980s brought her mainstream recognition, while her stage work continued to draw attention from theater critics and peers, culminating in the Tony nomination that underscored her dramatic credentials.
Holliday’s agent provided initial notice of her death; no cause was released. Colleagues and fans recalled a performer who could move between comedy and drama and who left an enduring imprint on American television and theater.
Her career reflected the crossover possibilities for actors who could translate stage discipline into television charisma and screen presence, and her work remains a touchstone of late 20th‑century American entertainment.