As my Grandpa said on his last Birthday on Earth, "85 trips around the Sun and it's STILL not enough!"
Posted on 09/10/2025 3:47:57 PM PDT by Morgana
Polly Holliday, the versatile actress best remembered for bringing sass and charm to Flo on the long-running sitcom Alice, has died at age 88.
Her death was confirmed by Dennis Aspland, her theatrical agent and close friend to The New York Times.
Holliday passed away on Tuesday at her home in Manhattan, less than a year after the death of her former co-star Linda Lavin, who played the series' title character.
Holliday shot to fame in the late 1970s as Florence Jean 'Flo' Castleberry, the witty, gum-snapping waitress with a sharp tongue.
Audiences quickly fell in love with her signature line, the deadpan, 'Kiss my grits', delivered in her sweetest Southern drawl whenever someone managed to get under her skin.
Alice, which debuted on CBS in August 1976, was loosely adapted from Martin Scorsese's 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
RIP Polly Holiday aka Florence Jean 'Flo' Castleberry
Does it ever end....?
No
The day gets even darker.
I remember her as Rose’s blind sister on The Golden Girls..very sad..RIP
She was great. Her insults at Mel were hilarious.
From Cowtown, Texas!
Great sitcom. Alice - Linda Lavin passed less than a year ago.
All of the main characters of this show have passed away.
As my Grandpa said on his last Birthday on Earth, "85 trips around the Sun and it's STILL not enough!"
She also appeared with Ellen Burstyn in the 1974 film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore", which was the inspiration for the series "Alice". Below, with Burstyn in 2003.
It was Diane Ladd who played “Flo” in the movie. Valerie Curtin (later in the TV version of Nine To Five) played Vera (who was of course played by Beth Howland in the TV series).
RIP. I think often about when in about 1981-82 watching the reruns of Alice and One Day At A Time on weekday mornings on CBS. Of all of the cast members of Alice, I would liked to have met Polly the most as she seemed to be a very cultured and interesting person and someone I would like to discuss art museums and gardens and related things.
She also played Tim Allen’s Mother-in-Law on Home Improvement.
Prayers to her family on this tragic day!
Sadly. And tomorrow is the 24th anniversary of one of the darkest days in the history of mankind.
Saw 1 episode. Forrest Tucker came to romance her. She was in love. Forrest then said he was her father whom she dearly missed. Got really angry and then cried.
She also was Tim Taylor’s mother-in-law on Tool Time.
Ugh. Terrible few days.
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