Biography
After eking out a modest living as a piano teacher in Alabama and Florida, Polly Holliday switched to acting, spending ten seasons with the Asolo State Theater in Sarasota. In 1973, Holliday headed for New York, where she was cast in Murray Schisgal's Broadway play
All Over Town; her director was
Dustin Hoffman.
All Over Town led to the tiny but pivotal role as a testy secretary in the Dustin Hoffman-
Robert Redford feature
All the President's Men (1976)--which, in turn, led to Holliday's being cast as wise-cracking waitress Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry in the TV sitcom
Alice (1976-80). Rising to nationwide fame by virtue of her oft-repeated catchphrase "Kiss mah grits!", Holliday earned four Emmy nominations and one Golden Globe Award. In 1980, she was spun off into her own weekly series
Flo, which lacked
Alice's staying power and was cancelled after a single season. She went on to briefly replace
Eileen Brennan on TV's
Private Benjamin (1983), and to play Captain Betty in the pilot episode of
Stir Crazy (1985). Her film roles of the 1980s included
Gremlins (1984), in which she was eminently hissable as
Margaret Hamilton clone Mrs. Deagle. Polly Holliday's more recent work has largely been confined to the Broadway stage; in 1989, she received a Tony nomination for her portrayal of Sister Woman in a revival of
Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide