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Polly Holliday, who played the cheeky waitress Flo on the sitcom "Alice," died Tuesday. She was 88.
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Polly Holliday, a versatile actor who found fame in the 1970s as sassy Southern waitress Flo on the sitcom Alice, died Tuesday. She was 88.
Flo’s catchphrase — “Kiss my grits!” — became an indelible part of American pop culture during Alice’s TV run from 1976 to 1985. The character also earned Holliday four Emmy nominations — three for her work on Alice and one for her spin-off series Flo — along with Golden Globe wins in 1979 and 1980. (She was also nominated for a Golden Globe in 1981 for Flo.)
However, Holliday’s talents extended far beyond TV sitcoms and included memorable appearances in films and on Broadway. In 1990, she received a Tony Award nomination for best featured actress for her performance in a revival of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Her movie work included an unforgettable turn as the small-town villain Mrs. Deagle in 1984’s Gremlins, as well as roles in All the President’s Men, Mrs. Doubtfire and The Parent Trap.
And according to a 1982 article in The Washington Post, she coached her friend Dustin Hoffman on how to play a Southern woman for Hoffman’s Oscar-nominated performance in the comedy Tootsie.
“He wanted to pick up my sounds, so we talked, just talked about everything, politics, art, acting,” she told the newspaper. “I remember walking through the snow and laughing, talking about the weather and where we were going and the buildings and that man over there. It was a wonderful way to work on a part.”
Holliday was born in Jasper, Alabama, on July 2, 1937. She graduated from the Alabama College for Women at Montevallo (now known as the University of Montevallo) in 1959 with a degree in piano. Holliday worked as a piano teacher in Alabama and Florida before launching her acting career.
In 1972, Holliday moved to New York and appeared in several stage productions before landing the role of Florence Jean Castleberry on Alice.
According to The New York Times, Holliday left no immediate survivors.
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