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June Lockhart, who passed away at the age of 100, started her career in films, but achieved recognition after transitioning almost entirely to TV. Having been given limited chances to shine in movies from her first appearance as a youngster in 1938 until 1947, she excelled on TV in many popular series, especially in Lassie.

Her Memorable Role in Lassie

Taking over from a previous star in 1958, Lockhart remained in the series until 1964. She played Ruth Martin, married to agriculturalist Paul Martin and the adoptive mother of young Timmy Martin, whose dog was the titular hero of the series.

Even with playing a mother figure, Lockhart skillfully avoided being overshadowed by the smart animal star. She described the show as “a fairy tale about people on a farm in which the dog resolves all the problems in 22 minutes, in time for the last advertisement”. After she departed the series, Lockhart commented: “In six sexless years of playing a rural wife and parent, I was rarely allowed to kiss my co-star on the face.”

Adventure into Lost in Space

Lockhart went straight into another successful series, Lost in Space (1965-68), a partly comedic sci-fi series targeted primarily at children and based by The Swiss Family Robinson. Lockhart and her co-star portrayed Maureen and John Robinson, two scientists exploring distant planets. Lockhart had to spend the majority of her time skillfully trying to survive special effects. As the series continued, the storyline became less and less about this interstellar clan and increasingly about the boy and his bond with a mechanical being, and the cowardly villain Dr Zachary Smith.

Start in Show Business

Lockhart’s feature film debut, at the young 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 actual parents, Gene and Kathleen Lockhart. As British-born Kathleen and Canadian-born Gene were both performers in many of films, as well as on stage, it was almost certain that June, who was born in New York, would enter show business.

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

Hollywood Work

When her father was offered a contract by a film studio, after his acclaim on Broadway, she relocated with her parents to Hollywood, where Gene made around 300 films. After going to school in Beverly Hills, June began her career in movies, mainly in minor 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 family party, whose schedule is filled spitefully to stop Lockhart dancing with her sibling.

More importantly, although she did not know it at the time, was Son of Lassie (1945). It was one of multiple sequels to the hugely successful Lassie Come Home (1943), in which a young star had played the female character who assists the dog to return 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 World War II adventure in enemy-held Norway, was in the consideration of the creators when it came to casting the Lassie TV series 13 years later.

Transition to Television and Broadway Achievement

Although she was offered major roles in two suspense films, She-Wolf of London (1946) and Bury Me Dead (1947), Lockhart concluded her film career was stagnating and that television would be the solution. Before embarking 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 substantial run came with Petticoat Junction (1968-70), set in a rural hotel, where Lockhart is a physician and maternal character. She also featured regularly in TV cowboy shows in the 50s, such as Have Gun Will Travel, Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, and Rawhide. Her hectic schedule persisted for the following five decades, with a regular role in General Hospital between 1984 and 1998. Among her many guest appearances were as herself in a 1988 episode of a talkshow, where the presenter finds a stray collie, and in another sitcom in 1995 as the parent of a restaurant manager.

Final Roles and Contributions

Her last TV credit came in 2021 as the voice of Alpha Control in an episode of a digital platform’s remake of Lost in Space. In the big screen version starring famous actors (1998), she had a digital cameo as a school principal. She took joy in learning how much of an inspiration the original series had been to later astronauts, and often participated in the agency’s launches and other events. In 2013 her work as a volunteer representative brought her its Exceptional Public Achievement Medal.

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

Personal Information

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

She is remembered by her daughters and four grandchildren.

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