Iconic TV role: Polly Holliday

Polly Holliday's portrayal of Flo the diner waitress was one of the best character actress performances in all of television's history.

Holliday was born in a small town in Alabama and taught piano before getting into theater in Sarasota, Florida. Eventually she relocated to New York City and a year later appeared on Broadway. Then in 1976 she began appearing as big-hair sporting, cotton uniform-clad Florence Jean Castleberry, better known as Flo, on the sitcom "Alice."

This show was set in Mel's Diner, where the flirtations Flo kept the male customers in line with her barbed remarks. Her signature line was, "Well, kiss mah grits," delivered over her shoulder in a thick country accent.

Holliday left "Alice" in 1980, a year before its conclusion, to star in her own spinoff series, "Flo," which aired for little more than a year (1980-1981).

Since the days of her celebrity, Holliday has done more work on the Broadway stage, has had parts in such movies as "The Silence" and "Private Benjamin," and has appeared on a few other TV shows, such as "The Equalizer," "The Golden Girls," and "Home Improvement." For most of us, however, she will always be Flo.