14 Facts About Polly Holliday

Polly Dean Holliday was born on July 2,1937 and is an American retired actress who appeared on stage, television and in film.

Polly Holliday is best known for her portrayal of sassy waitress Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry on the 1970s sitcom Alice, which she reprised in its short-lived spin-off, Flo.

Polly Holliday is the last surviving member of the show's main original cast.

Polly Holliday grew up in Childersburg and Sylacauga, where her brother Doyle's boyhood friend, Jim Nabors, lived.

Polly Holliday attended the Alabama College for Women at Montevallo in the late 1950s where she excelled in the theater department, playing the lead roles in "The Lady's Not for Burning" and "Medea".

Polly Holliday graduated in 1959 with a degree in piano.

Polly Holliday went on to Florida State University, and spent the first phase of her career earning respect on the classical stage.

Polly Holliday worked as a piano teacher in her native Alabama, and then in Florida.

Polly Holliday began her professional acting career as a member of the Asolo Theatre Company in Sarasota, Florida, where she stayed for 10 years.

Polly Holliday is an Episcopalian who sang in the St Andrews Episcopal Choir in Mobile, Alabama.

In 1973, Polly Holliday moved to New York City and appeared in Alice Childress's play Wedding Band at the Public Theater.

Polly Holliday starred in Alice from 1976 to 1980, and then moved to her own short-lived spin-off show, titled Flo, in which Flo left Arizona and moved back home to Texas.

In 1983, Polly Holliday joined the cast of the CBS-TV sitcom Private Benjamin as a temporary replacement for series regular Eileen Brennan, who was recovering from serious injuries after being struck by a car.

Polly Holliday made appearances on television shows such as The Golden Girls, where she played Rose Nylund's blind sister Lily, in a recurring role as Jill Taylor's mother on Home Improvement, and a regular character on The Client.