<P> Alice Hyatt ( Lavin ) is an unemployed widow after her husband , Donald , is killed in a trucking accident , and with her young son Tommy ( played by Alfred Lutter in the pilot episode , reprising his role from the film , but played by Philip McKeon thereafter ) heads from their New Jersey home to Los Angeles so that she can pursue a singing career . Her car breaks down on the way in Phoenix ( from a presumed engine fire , as seen in the opening credits ) , and we meet her soon after she has taken a job as a waitress at Mel 's Diner , on the outskirts of Phoenix . ( The later seasons ' exterior shots were of a real diner , named Mel 's , still in operation in Phoenix . ) Alice works alongside Mel Sharples ( Vic Tayback ) , the grouchy , stingy owner and cook of the greasy spoon , and fellow waitresses and friends , sassy , man - hungry Florence Jean `` Flo '' Castleberry ( Polly Holliday ) , and neurotic , scatterbrained Vera Louise Gorman ( Beth Howland ) . </P>
<P> Alice Hyatt ( Lavin ) is an unemployed widow after her husband , Donald , is killed in a trucking accident , and with her young son Tommy ( played by Alfred Lutter in the pilot episode , reprising his role from the film , but played by Philip McKeon thereafter ) heads from their New Jersey home to Los Angeles so that she can pursue a singing career . Her car breaks down on the way in Phoenix ( from a presumed engine fire , as seen in the opening credits ) , and we meet her soon after she has taken a job as a waitress at Mel 's Diner , on the outskirts of Phoenix . ( The later seasons ' exterior shots were of a real diner , named Mel 's , still in operation in Phoenix . ) Alice works alongside Mel Sharples ( Vic Tayback ) , the grouchy , stingy owner and cook of the greasy spoon , and fellow waitresses and friends , sassy , man - hungry Florence Jean `` Flo '' Castleberry ( Polly Holliday ) , and neurotic , scatterbrained Vera Louise Gorman ( Beth Howland ) . </P>
who played flo in the tv show alice
who played flo in the tv show alice
Polly Holliday
Polly Holliday