LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 June Lockhart, who became a mother figure for a generation of television viewers whether at home in \u201cLassie\u201d or up in the stratosphere in \u201cLost In Space,\u201d has died. She was 100.<\/p>\n
Lockhart died Thursday of natural causes at her home in Santa Monica, family spokesman Lyle Gregory, a friend of 40 years, said Saturday.<\/p>\n
![\"FILE](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/MNFJGBT7ERDJJLP3WR3HENZAKM.jpg\")
FILE – June Lockhart, right, who played the character of Ruth Martin, mother of Timmy Martin, played by Jon Provost, left, during the classic series “Lassie,” poses for a photograph with Lassie, 9th generation, during arrivals at CBS’s 75th anniversary celebration Sunday, Nov. 2, 2003, in New York. (AP Photo\/Louis Lanzano, File)(LOUIS LANZANO | AP)<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was very happy up until the very end, reading the New York Times and LA Times everyday,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was very important to her to stay focused on the news of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
The daughter of prolific character actor Gene Lockhart, Lockhart was cast frequently in ingenue roles as a young film actor. Television made her a star.<\/p>\n
From 1958 to 1964, she portrayed Ruth Martin, who raised the orphaned Timmy (Jon Provost), in the popular CBS series \u201cLassie.\u201d From 1965 to 1968, she traveled aboard the spaceship Jupiter II as mother to the Robinson family in the campy CBS adventure \u201cLost in Space.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her portrayals of warm, compassionate mothers endeared her to young viewers, and decades later baby boomers flocked to nostalgia conventions to meet Lockhart and buy her autographed photos.<\/p>\n
Offscreen, Lockhart insisted, she was nothing like the women she portrayed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI must quote Dan Rather,\u201d she said in a 1994 interview. \u201cI can control my reputation, but not my image, because my image is how you see me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love rock \u2018n\u2019 roll and going to the concerts. I have driven Army tanks and flown in hot air balloons. And I go plane-gliding \u2014 the ones with no motors. I do a lot of things that don\u2019t go with my image.\u201d<\/p>\n
Early in her career, Lockhart appeared in numerous films. Among them: \u201cAll This and Heaven Too,\u201d \u201cAdam Had Four Sons,\u201d \u201cSergeant York,\u201d \u201cMiss Annie Rooney,\u201d \u201cForever and a Day\u201d and \u201cMeet Me in St. Louis.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also made \u201cSon of Lassie,\u201d the 1945 sequel to \u201cLassie, Come Home,\u201d playing the grown-up version of the role created by Elizabeth Taylor.<\/p>\n
New life on television<\/p>\n
When her movie career as an adult faltered, Lockhart shifted to television, appearing in live drama from New York and game and talk shows. She was the third actress to play the female lead in \u201cLassie\u201d on TV, following Jan Clayton and Cloris Leachman. (Provost had replaced the show\u2019s original child star, Tommy Rettig, in 1957.)<\/p>\n
Lockhart spoke frankly about her canine co-star. In the first place, she said in 1989, Lassie was a laddie, because male collies \u201care bigger, the ruff is bigger, they\u2019re more imposing looking.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cI worked with four Lassies. There was only one main Lassie at a time. Then there was a dog that did the running, a dog that did the fighting, and a dog that was a stand-in, because only humans can work 14 hours a day without needing a nap.<\/p>\n
\u201cLassie was not especially friendly with anybody. Lassie was wholly concentrated on the trainers.\u201d<\/p>\n
After six years in the rural setting of \u201cLassie,\u201d Lockhart moved to outer space, embarking on the role of Maureen Robinson, the wise, reassuring mother of a family that departs on a five-year flight to a faraway planet in \u201cLost in Space.\u201d<\/p>\n
After their mission is sabotaged by a fellow passenger, the nefarious Dr. Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris), the party bounces from planet to planet, encountering weird creatures and near-disasters that required viewers to tune in the following week to learn of the escape. Throughout the three-year run, Mrs. Robinson offered consolation and a slice of her \u201cspace pie.\u201d<\/p>\n
As with \u201cLassie,\u201d Lockhart enjoyed working on \u201cLost in Space\u201d: \u201cIt was like going to work at Disneyland every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1968, Lockhart joined the cast of \u201cPetticoat Junction\u201d for the rural comedy\u2019s last two seasons, playing Dr. Janet Craig. The original star, Bea Benaderet, had been diagnosed with cancer and died, also in 1968.<\/p>\n
A little bit of everything<\/p>\n
Lockhart remained active long after \u201cLost in Space,\u201d appearing often in episodic television as well as in recurring roles in the daytime soap opera \u201cGeneral Hospital\u201d and nighttime soaps, \u201cKnots Landing\u201d and \u201cThe Colbys.\u201d Her film credits included \u201cThe Remake\u201d and the animated \u201cBongee Bear and the Kingdom of Rhythm,\u201d for which she provided the voice for Mindy the Owl.<\/p>\n
She also used her own media pass to attend presidential news conferences, narrated beauty pageants and holiday parades, appeared in B pictures and toured in the plays \u201cSteel Magnolias,\u201d \u201cBedroom Farce\u201d and \u201cOnce More with Feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHer true passion was journalism,\u201d Gregory said. \u201cShe loved going to the White House briefing rooms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lockhart liked to tell the story of how her parents met, saying they were hired separately for a touring production sponsored by inventor Thomas A. Edison and decided on marriage during a stop at Lake Louise, Alberta.<\/p>\n
Their daughter was born June 25, 1925, in New York City. The family moved to Hollywood 10 years later, and Gene Lockhart worked steadily as a character actor, usually in avuncular roles, sometimes as a villain. His wife, Kathleen, often appeared with him.<\/p>\n
Young June made her stage debut at 8, dancing in a children\u2019s ballet at the Metropolitan Opera House. Her first film appearance was a small role in the 1938 \u201cA Christmas Carol,\u201d playing the daughter of Bob Cratchit and his wife, who were played by her parents.<\/p>\n
She was married and divorced twice: to John Maloney, a physician, father of her daughters Anne Kathleen and June Elizabeth; and architect John C. Lindsay.<\/p>\n
Throughout her later career, Lockhart was connected in the public mind with \u201cLassie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even though she sometimes mocked the show, she conceded: \u201cHow wonderful that in a career there is one role for which you are known. Many actors work all their lives and never have one part that is really theirs.\u201d<\/p>\n
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