CBS
Polly Holliday, the scene-stealer on “Alice” as wise-crackin’, gum-smackin’ Flo Castleberry — who never met a foe she didn’t invite to “kiss my grits!” — has died at 88.
Her agent Dennis Aspland confirmed to The New York Times that Holliday died September 9 at her Manhattan home.
Holliday died nine months after “Alice’s” star, Linda Lavin. The entire original main cast of the series — Lavin, Beth Howland, Vic Tayback and Philip McKeon — has now passed away, leaving Holliday’s later replacements, Diane Ladd and Celia Weston, as the final surviving actors who worked extensively on the beloved sitcom.
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Holliday’s Flo, with her heavenward orange hair, man-crazy moxie, and fearless swagger, was a cultural phenomenon when “Alice” debuted on CBS, and her catchphrase was everywhere. She was so popular from 1976-1980 on the show that Holliday earned a spin-off series, simply entitled “Flo” (1980-1981). That effort failed to connect, and was canceled after one season.
By then, Holliday’s Flo had been replaced by Diane Ladd’s Belle on the Phoenix-based series, Ladd having played Flo in the Martin Scorsese drama “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (1974), on which “Alice” had been (loosely) based.
Holliday’s other indelible contribution to pop culture came when she played deliciously evil Mrs. Ruby Deagle in the 1984 box-office smash “Gremlins.”
A take on the Wicked Witch from “The Wizard of Oz” (Ruby longed to slip her hands around the throat of the young hero’s dog), Deagle was a classic movie villain audiences loved to hate — and her demise in the cartoonish romp, done in by her electric staircase lift, received hoots and hollers in the theater.
But Holliday spent more time as a stage actor, including receiving a Tony nomination for her work in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” in 1990, in which she gave a thrilling performance as Big Mama.
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Holliday was born in Jasper, Alabama, on July 2, 1937, growing up in nearby Childersburg.
She appeared in several productions while at college, and worked as a music teacher.
By the early ’60s, she was a part of the Asolo Repertory company in Sarasota, Florida, where she drew raves for her work performing in the classics.
She moved to New York in 1972, where she continued her stage work. In 1974, she made her Broadway debut in “All Over Town,” directed by Dustin Hoffman, a friend she tutored on the fine art of playing a hot-tempered southern woman for his film “Tootsie” (1982).
Along with her stage work on Broadway and off, she appeared in TV movies and made a number of potent guest appearances on TV series. One that sticks with fans is her work as Rose Nylund’s (Betty White) blind sister on a 1986 episode of “The Golden Girls.”
She also had recurring roles on “The Client” (1995-1996) and “Home Improvement” (1993-1999).
Her feature films included “All the President’s Men” (1976), “Mrs. Doubtfire” (1993), and “The Parent Trap” (1998).
After her work in the film “Fair Game” (2010), she retired.
As for why her most famous character has lived on in the hearts and minds of TV fans, Flo said it best herself: “I’m attractive, I’m a good talker, I’m a good dancer, and the list goes on and on.”
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