MANHATTAN, NY – Alabama native Polly Holliday, the actress known for portraying the sassy TV character Flo Castleberry and popularized the catchphrase “kiss my grits,” has died at age 88. Born July 2, 1937, in Jasper, Alabama, she died Tuesday, September 10, 2025 at her Manhattan home. Over the years, she was a frequent visitor to her adopted hometown of Childersburg.
Holliday won two Golden Globes and received four Emmy nominations for her portrayal of the beehive-wearing waitress, including her own spin-off series, “Flo.” But her acting history was quite storied along the way and beyond. She moved to New York in 1972 and landed a few roles in commercials for cereal and laundry soap and a small part in the soap opera “Search for Tomorrow.”
A few years later, her big break came when she acted in the off-Broadway production of “All Over Town,” directed by Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman was so taken with the acting skills, he helped her win a role in his next film, “All the President’s Men” as a secretary in the Florida State Attorney’s office where Hoffman’s character finds a link between the Watergate burglars and President Richard Nixon.
That role led Allan Shayne, the casting director for the Hoffman film, to recommended her for the breakout role of her career as Florence Jean Castleberry.
Along with numerous roles on television and the big screen, she kept finding her way back to New York’s Broadway, her first love, even earning a Tony nomination for her 1990 her role as Big Mama in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” as her many years on the stage paid off.
