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Starting her career in cinema, June Lockhart, who passed on aged 100, found her greatest success after switching largely to television. Having been offered limited chances to shine in movies from her first appearance as a youngster in 1938 until 1947, she excelled on television in numerous popular series, most notably in Lassie.

Her Memorable Role in Lassie

Stepping in from a previous star in 1958, Lockhart continued in the series until 1964. Her role was Ruth Martin, wed to agriculturalist Paul Martin and the adoptive mother of young Timmy Martin, whose collie was the eponymous hero of the series.

In her role as a homemaker, Lockhart somehow succeeded to avoid being totally overshadowed by the intelligent dog. She described the program as “a fairy tale about families on a rural property in which the dog resolves all the problems in 22 minutes, in time for the last commercial”. After she left the show, Lockhart commented: “In six sexless years of playing a country spouse and mother, I was rarely allowed to peck my on-screen husband on the face.”

Starring in Lost in Space

Lockhart went directly into a second successful series, Lost in Space (1965-68), a semi-spoof sci-fi series targeted mostly at children and inspired by The Swiss Family Robinson. Lockhart and her co-star played Maureen and John Robinson, two scientists exploring distant planets. Lockhart had to spend most of her time skillfully trying to survive visual effects. As the show continued, the narrative became increasingly less about this interstellar clan and increasingly about the boy and his bond with a mechanical being, and the timid antagonist Dr Zachary Smith.

Beginnings in Show Business

Lockhart’s feature film debut, at the age of 13, had come as Belinda Cratchit in A Christmas Carol (1938). In the roles of her parents, Bob and Mrs Cratchit, were her real-life parents, Gene and Kathleen Lockhart. As UK-native Kathleen and Canadian-born Gene were both performers in many of movies, as well as on theater, it was almost certain that June, who was born in New York, would join the entertainment industry.

Her first theatrical appearance, at the tender age of six, came in a non-singing role in an musical production 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 moved with her family to Hollywood, where Gene made around 300 films. After going to school in Beverly Hills, June started her professional life 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 last one, she is charming as a New Yorker at a household party, whose schedule is arranged spitefully to stop Lockhart interacting with her brother.

More importantly, although she did not realize it at the time, was Son of Lassie (1945). It was one of several follow-ups to the extremely successful Lassie Come Home (1943), in which another actress had played the female character who helps the canine to escape to the family. In the later film, Lockhart played the now grown-up character.

The affectionate way in which she handled both Lassie and her offspring, Laddie, hero of a wartime adventure in enemy-held Norway, was in the consideration of the producers when it came to casting the Lassie TV series 13 years later.

TV and Stage Career

Although she was given leading roles in two suspense films, She-Wolf of London (1946) and Bury Me Dead (1947), Lockhart decided her movie career was getting her nowhere and that television would be the solution. Before embarking in a new direction, she received acclaim on Broadway in For Love or Money (1947), a humorous play for which she won a Tony award as most promising newcomer.

A additional substantial run came with Petticoat Junction (1968-70), set in a rural hotel, where Lockhart is a doctor and maternal character. She also featured frequently in TV westerns in the 50s, such as Have Gun Will Travel, Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, and Rawhide. Her busy schedule continued for the next five decades, with a recurring role in General Hospital between 1984 and 1998. Among her many guest appearances were as the actress in a 1988 episode of a comedy series, where the host finds a lost collie, and in another sitcom in 1995 as the mother of a restaurant manager.

Final Career and Legacy

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 movie version starring famous actors (1998), she had a holographic cameo as a school principal. She took pleasure in learning how much of an influence the first series had been to future astronauts, and often participated in the agency’s launches and other events. In 2013 her work as a volunteer representative brought her its prestigious award.

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

Personal Life and Family

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

She is remembered by her children and four grandkids.

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