I came across this (https://www.quora.com/What-actress-could-have-been-more-successful/answer/Jon-Mixon-1) today:
Polly Holliday portrayed the character Flo in the sitcom Alice and its short-lived spinoff Flo. Holliday demonstrated that she could do drama and comedy and she was an attractive person. However following her departure from the Alice narrative universe, her career (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polly_Holliday#Career) slowed down drastically. Although she worked in minor film and television roles and on Broadway, she never achieved the level of fame that her late 1970s/early 1980s success portended. She retired in 2010 and is now in poor health.

She has said that her heavy southern accent kept her from many parts. When the character of Flo came up she fit perfectly because she never had to hide her accent. I think she was so good at Flo that she was sort of typecast which hurt her career.

She has said that her heavy southern accent kept her from many parts. When the character of Flo came up she fit perfectly because she never had to hide her accent. I think she was so good at Flo that she was sort of typecast which hurt her career.

I think her real problem was the fact that she played the role of Flo, by that I mean she was an actress playing a part, that character was not an extension of her existing comic persona. As such anyone creating a character like Flo and casting Polly risked getting sued. Basically she was back where she started from before Alice hoping to catch lightning in a bottle a second time and it just didn't happen.

Wasn’t most of the “Alice” cast primarily known for their stage work?