Editing Myrna Loy (section)

===1950–1982: Later career and political activities===
[[File:Loy-Sargeant-1951.jpg|thumb|upright|Loy and her fourth husband, [[Howland H. Sargeant]], returning from a [[UNESCO]] conference soon after their marriage in 1951]]

In 1950, Loy co-starred with [[Clifton Webb]] in ''[[Cheaper by the Dozen (1950 film)|Cheaper by the Dozen]]'' (1950), which was a box-office hit, grossing $4.4 million in the United States.{{sfn|Leider|2011|p=274}} The same year, she divorced Markey.{{sfn|Houseman|1991|p=190}} Her fourth and final husband was [[Howland H. Sargeant]], U.S. [[Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs]] and president of [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|Radio Liberty]],{{sfn|Houseman|1991|p=190}} whom she married on June 2, 1951, in [[Fort Myer|Fort Myer, Virginia]].{{sfn|Houseman|1991|p=190}} Sargeant, a [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]], wanted the marriage officiated in the church, but they were unable to do so due to Loy's recent divorce.{{sfn|Leider|2011|p=279}}

Throughout the 1950s, Loy assumed an influential role as co-chairman of the Advisory Council of the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing. In 1952, she starred in the ''Cheaper by the Dozen'' sequel, ''[[Belles on Their Toes (film)|Belles on Their Toes]]''. In 1956, she appeared in ''[[The Ambassador's Daughter (1956 film)|The Ambassador's Daughter]]'' along with [[John Forsythe]] and [[Olivia de Havilland]]. She played opposite [[Montgomery Clift]] and [[Robert Ryan]] in ''[[Lonelyhearts]]'' (1958), [[Dore Schary]]'s adaptation of [[Nathanael West]]'s classic 1933 novel ''[[Miss Lonelyhearts]]''. In 1960, she appeared in ''[[Midnight Lace]]'' and ''[[From the Terrace]]'', but was not in another film until 1969 in ''[[The April Fools]]''. In 1965, Loy won the [[Sarah Siddons Award]] for her work in [[Chicago theatre]]. 

Loy, a lifelong [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]], publicly supported the election of [[John F. Kennedy]] in 1960, finding [[Richard Nixon]] to be an unscrupulous man.{{sfn|Leider|2011|p=293}} She would endorse [[Eugene McCarthy]], and later [[Hubert Humphrey]] in 1968 and [[George McGovern]] in 1972.<ref>"Anti-Bias Unit Gets Officers", The New York Times, May 14, 1961</ref><ref>Bob Thomas, "Politics Still Beckons to Myrna Loy," The Washington Post, September 21, 1968</ref><ref>“Myrna Loy’s Star Still Burns Bright”; Rob Edelman, The New York Times, February 3, 1980</ref>

She divorced her fourth husband Sargeant in 1960.{{sfn|Leider|2011|p=288}} In 1967, she was cast in the television series ''[[The Virginian (TV series)|The Virginian]]'', appearing in an episode titled "Lady of the House". Also in 1967, she appeared on ''Family Affair'' in the episode "A Helping Hand" as a woman out of work and taking on hired-help and cook work, comically aided by Mr. French, though, the job did not work out, and she takes the failure out on [[John Williams (actor)|John Williams]], who was temporarily substituting for Sebastian Cabot in the role of Mr. French. In 1972, she appeared as the suspect's mother-in-law in an episode of the television series ''[[Columbo]]'' titled "Étude in Black". In 1974, she had a supporting part in ''[[Airport 1975]]'' playing Mrs. Devaney, a heavy-drinking woman imbibing Jim Beam and Olympia Beer mixed together; a foil to the character played by [[Sid Caesar]]. In 1975, Loy was diagnosed with [[breast cancer]] and underwent two [[mastectomy|mastectomies]] to treat the disease.{{sfn|Kotsilibas-Davis|Loy|1987|pages=345–346}} She kept her cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment from the public until the publication of her autobiography in 1987.{{sfn|Kotsilibas-Davis|Loy|1987|pages=345–346}}

Loy appeared at Denver's [[Elitch Theatre]] in 1967 in [[Barefoot in the Park]], and then returned in 1969 in Janus.<ref>{{Cite web |last=R |first=Greg |title=Myrna Loy (1967) |url=https://historicelitchtheatre.org/myrna-loy/ |access-date=2023-02-27 |website=Historic Elitch Theatre |date=February 26, 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1978, she appeared in the film ''[[The End (1978 film)|The End]]'' as the mother of the main character played by [[Burt Reynolds]]. Her last motion picture performance was in 1980 in [[Sidney Lumet]]'s ''[[Just Tell Me What You Want]]''. She also returned to the stage, making her [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] debut in a short-lived 1973 revival of [[Clare Boothe Luce]]'s ''[[The Women (play)|The Women]]''. She toured in a 1978 production of [[Alan Ayckbourn]]'s ''[[Relatively Speaking (Ayckbourn play)|Relatively Speaking]]'', directed by David Clayton.

In 1981, she appeared in the television drama ''[[Summer Solstice (1981 film)|Summer Solstice]]'',<ref>Erickson, Hal. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130524193903/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/47630/Summer-Solstice/overview "Summer Solstice (1981)"], nytimes.com. Retrieved December 20, 2011.</ref> which was [[Henry Fonda]]'s last performance. Her last acting role was a guest spot on the sitcom ''[[Love, Sidney]]'', in 1982.