Polly Holliday was born Polly Dean Holliday on July 2, 1937, in Jasper, Alabama, to Ernest Sullivan Holliday, a truck driver, and Velma Mabell Holliday, a housewife. She grew up in Childersburg and Sylacauga, Alabama, where she developed a love for acting and performing at a young age.

Polly Holliday attended the Alabama College for Women at Montevallo, where she excelled in the theater department, playing lead roles in productions like "The Lady's Not for Burning" and "Medea." She graduated in 1959 with a degree in piano and later attended Florida State University.

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

She worked as a piano teacher in Alabama and Florida before moving to New York City in 1973.There, she appeared in Alice Childress's play "Wedding Band" at the Public Theater and later in the Broadway hit "All Over Town."

Her major break came in 1976 when she was cast as the sassy waitress Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry on the American sitcom "Alice." Her character's catchphrase, "Kiss my grits!" became part of the American vernacular.

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

The show was successful during its abbreviated first season but was canceled in 1981 due to declining ratings. Her portrayal of Flo earned her two Golden Globe Awards and an Emmy nomination. She also appeared in small parts in movies like "All the President's Men" and "Gremlins."

Polly Holliday returned to her first love, the theater, and won renewed respect and critical notice for her performances in Broadway and regional theater productions. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her role as Big Mama in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and continued to perform in various stage productions throughout her career.

Polly Holliday is an Episcopalian who sang in the St. Andrews Episcopal Choir in Mobile, Alabama, and later in the Grace Church (Episcopal) Choral Society in New York City.

She ran a chamber music series called the Willow Ensemble in Greenwich Village from 1995 to 2008.