June Lockhart, Beloved Television Mother, Dies at 100, Actor June Lockhart, who played moms in ‘Lassie’ and ‘Lost in Space,’ dies at 100
June Lockhart, a soft-spoken actress who displayed profound maternal wisdom and soulful contentment in two iconic mid-20th-century television roles: the heartwarming children’s series “Lassie” and the futuristic fairy tale “Lost in Space,” died Thursday at her home in Santa Monica, California. She was 100 years old.
Her spokesman, Harlan Boll, announced her death.
Ms. Lockhart replaced Cloris Leachman in the role of Ruth Martin, foster mother to Jon Provost and his adventurous collie, Lassie, at the start of the show’s fifth season in 1958. After six years of dispensing domestic wisdom, Ms. Lockhart and her human co-stars were replaced by a forest ranger character (Robert Bray) who would guide the show’s canine heroine on her further adventures.
Lockhart died of natural causes. Her daughter, June Elizabeth, and granddaughter, Christiana, were with her at the time of her death.
Lockhart’s funeral will be private. Instead of flowers, her family is requesting donations to the Actors Fund, ProPublica, and International Hearing Dogs, Inc.
The actress’s career spanned both film and television. Her films include “A Christmas Carol,” “Meet Me in St. Louis,” and “The She-Wolf of London.” On television, she played lead roles in “Lassie” and “Lost in Space.” She was one of the last surviving stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
June Lockhart (third from left) with her parents, Gene and Kathleen Lockhart, in the 1938 film “A Christmas Carol.”
Lockhart was born in New York City in 1925. Both her parents, Gene and Kathleen, were actors.
She made her stage debut at the age of eight in the Metropolitan Opera production of Peter Ibbetson’s play “The Last Supper.” Her first film role came in 1938’s “A Christmas Carol,” where she played the daughter of Bob Cratchit (played by her father) and his wife.
Lockhart told the Ames Tribune in 2014, “I think my parents were wonderful as the Cratchits, and it was so much fun to see how a film is made. I loved the Victorian costumes.”
She said, “We used to perform this play every Christmas at our house for our guests over dinner.” “So, before I did it for MGM, I acted it out in our living room with my parents for many years.” She said her family especially liked the fact that her first words in a film were, “I know, I know—sausage.” She added, “It became a family joke, and now when we watch it we all burst out laughing.”
Lockhart’s early film roles included All This, and Heaven Too, Adam Had Four Sons, Sergeant York, and She-Wolf of London. In 1944, she appeared in another Christmas film, Meet Me in St. Louis.
June Lockhart, 1948.
Everett
Lockhart appeared twice on Broadway, in “For Love or Money” in 1947 and “The Grand Prize” in 1955. For the first film, she received a Tony Award for Outstanding Performance by a Newcomer. She told the Chicago Tribune in 1987, “I love everything, but I think the hardest part is theater. Television is fun. But theater lasts night after night.”
She began working in television in 1949. She guest-starred on shows such as Hallmark Hall of Fame, Shirley Temple’s Storybook, Wagon Train, and Gunsmoke. She starred in several early Westerns and told the Burlington County Times in 2015, “I loved the costumes of that era, their long gowns and high-waisted dresses. The stories were also well written and could be quite provocative for their time.”
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