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Starting her career in films, June Lockhart, who passed on aged 100, found her greatest success after switching largely to the small screen. Having been offered few chances to excel in films from her debut as a child in 1938 until 1947, she excelled on television in many popular series, most notably in Lassie.

Her Iconic Role in Lassie

Stepping in from another actress in 1958, Lockhart remained in the show until 1964. Her role was Ruth Martin, wed to agriculturalist Paul Martin and the foster mother of seven-year-old Timmy Martin, whose dog was the titular hero of the series.

In her part as a homemaker, Lockhart somehow managed to avoid being totally overshadowed by the clever dog. She characterized the program as “a fantasy about people on a rural property in which the canine resolves all the issues in 22 minutes, in time for the last commercial”. After she left the show, Lockhart commented: “In six sexless years of playing a country wife and mother, I was rarely permitted to peck my on-screen husband on the cheek.”

Journey into Lost in Space

Lockhart went directly into another successful series, Lost in Space (1965-68), a semi-spoof sci-fi series aimed primarily at young audiences and inspired by The Swiss Family Robinson. Lockhart and another actor portrayed Maureen and John Robinson, two scientists exploring alien planets. Lockhart had to spend the majority of her time skillfully trying to navigate visual effects. As the show continued, the storyline became increasingly less about this interstellar clan and increasingly about the boy and his friendship with a mechanical being, and the cowardly antagonist Dr Zachary Smith.

Beginnings in Entertainment

Lockhart’s movie first role, at the young age of 13, had come as Belinda Cratchit in A Christmas Carol (1938). In the parts of her mother and father, Bob and Mrs Cratchit, were her real-life parents, Gene and Kathleen Lockhart. As British-born Kathleen and Canadian-born Gene were both actors in many of films, as well as on theater, it was nearly certain that June, who was born in New York, would enter show business.

Her first theatrical performance, at the tender age of six, came in a non-singing role in an opera at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (1931).

Transition to Hollywood and Movie Roles

When her father was offered a contract by a film studio, after his success on Broadway, she relocated with her parents to Hollywood, where Gene made approximately 300 films. After going to school in Beverly Hills, June began her career in films, mostly in small roles in prestigious pictures such as Sergeant York (1941), The White Cliffs of Dover (1942) and Meet Me in St Louis (1944). In the latter, she is charming as a New Yorker at a household party, whose schedule is filled spitefully to stop Lockhart interacting with her brother.

More importantly, although she did not know it at the time, was Son of Lassie (1945). It was one of multiple follow-ups to the hugely successful Lassie Come Home (1943), in which a young star had played the female character who helps the canine to escape to the owners. In the subsequent film, Lockhart played the now adult version.

The loving way in which she handled both Lassie and her son, Laddie, hero of a World War II adventure in enemy-held Norway, was in the minds of the producers when it came to selecting the Lassie TV series 13 years later.

Transition to Television and Stage Achievement

Although she was offered major roles in two suspense films, She-Wolf of London (1946) and Bury Me Dead (1947), Lockhart decided her film career was stagnating and that television would be the answer. Before going in a new direction, she received praise on Broadway in For Love or Money (1947), a humorous play for which she won a Tony award as most promising newcomer.

A further significant run came with Petticoat Junction (1968-70), set in a country hotel, where Lockhart is a doctor and mother figure. She also featured frequently in TV cowboy shows in the 50s, such as Have Gun Will Travel, Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, and Rawhide. Her hectic workload continued for the next five decades, with a regular role in General Hospital between 1984 and 1998. Among her many guest appearances were as the actress in a 1988 episode of a talkshow, where the host finds a stray collie, and in another sitcom in 1995 as the mother of a dining manager.

Final Roles and Contributions

Her final TV appearance came in 2021 as the voice of Alpha Control in an episode of a digital platform’s new version of Lost in Space. In the big screen version starring well-known actors (1998), she had a digital cameo as a school principal. She took pleasure in learning how much of an influence the original series had been to future astronauts, and often attended the organization’s launches and other events. In 2013 her work as a volunteer spokesperson brought her its prestigious award.

Among her limited subsequent feature films was the fantasy, Troll (1986) in which she portrayed a sorceress, with her own daughter, Anne Lockhart, playing her younger self.

Personal Information

In 1951 she married John Maloney, a doctor and former Navy doctor. In addition to Anne, they had a second daughter, June. That union ended in separation, as did her second marriage, to John Lindsay, an architect.

She is remembered by her daughters and four grandkids.

June Lockhart, actress, born 25 June 1925; died 23 October 2025