Polly Holliday, ALICE Star and Tony Nominee, Passes Away at 88

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that Tony nominee Polly Holliday, best known as Flo the waitress in the 1970s sitcom Alice, has passed away at the age of 88. For her performance in the popular series, which was based on Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Holliday received two Golden Globe wins and three Emmy nominations. She starred in the show for four seasons alongside fellow Broadway alums Linda Lavin and Beth Howland. She was also nominated for another Golden Globe and Emmy for the spin-off show Flo, which followed her fan-favorite character. 

Holliday made her Broadway debut as Philomena Hopkins in the original production of All Over Town in 1974. Directed by Dustin Hoffman, the production also starred Cleavon Little and Barnard Hughes. She also appeared in revivals of Arsenic and Old Lace (1986) as Martha Brewster, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1990), for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for her portrayal of Big Mama, and Picnic (1994), which marked her final Broadway credit.

Regional stage credits include The Glass Menagerie at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis (1988), Tom Stoppard’s Every Good Boy Deserves Favor at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center (2002), and a revival of Arthur Laurents's The Time of the Cuckoo at Lincoln Center in 2000.

Beyond playing Flo, Holliday also appeared in a variety of other screen roles for film and television, including All the President's Men, The One and Only, Mrs. Doubtfire, Mr. Wrong, and the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap. For her performance as Ruby Deagle in Gremlins, she won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress. Additional television credits include The Golden Girls, Home Improvement, and The Client.