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June Lockhart, who died at the remarkable age of 100, started her professional journey in movies, but gained fame after transitioning almost entirely to television. Having been given limited opportunities to excel in movies from her first appearance as a youngster in 1938 until 1947, she excelled on television in numerous popular series, especially in Lassie.

Portraying Ruth Martin on Lassie

Stepping in from a previous star in 1958, Lockhart continued in the show until 1964. She played Ruth Martin, married to agriculturalist Paul Martin and the adoptive mother of seven-year-old Timmy Martin, whose collie was the titular star of the series.

In her part as a homemaker, Lockhart somehow managed to avoid being completely upstaged by the clever canine. She characterized the show as “a fairy tale about families on a farm in which the dog solves all the issues in 22 minutes, in time for the last advertisement”. After she left the series, Lockhart commented: “In six chaste years of playing a country wife and parent, I was rarely permitted to peck 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 science fiction series aimed primarily at young audiences and based by The Swiss Family Robinson. Lockhart and her co-star portrayed Maureen and John Robinson, two scientists exploring alien planets. Lockhart had to spend most of her time skillfully trying to survive special effects. As the series continued, the narrative became increasingly less about this space clan and more about the boy and his friendship with a robot, and the cowardly villain Dr Zachary Smith.

Beginnings in Show Business

Lockhart’s movie first role, 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 actual parents, Gene and Kathleen Lockhart. As British-born Kathleen and Canadian-born Gene were both actors in dozens of films, as well as on theater, it was almost inevitable that June, who was born in New York, would join show business.

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

Hollywood Work

When her parent was given a deal by a film studio, after his success on Broadway, she moved with her parents to Hollywood, where Gene made around 300 films. After going to school in Beverly Hills, June started her career in films, mostly 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 latter, she is charming as a New Yorker at a family party, whose dance card is filled maliciously to prevent 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 sequels to the hugely successful Lassie Come Home (1943), in which a young star had played the girl who helps the dog to escape to the owners. In the subsequent film, Lockhart played the now grown-up version.

The affectionate way in which she interacted with both Lassie and her offspring, Laddie, protagonist of a World War II adventure in Nazi-occupied Norway, was in the consideration of the producers when it came to selecting the Lassie TV series 13 years later.

Transition to Television and Broadway Success

Although she was offered leading roles in two thrillers, She-Wolf of London (1946) and Bury Me Dead (1947), Lockhart decided her movie 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 best newcomer.

A further significant run came with Petticoat Junction (1968-70), set in a rural hotel, where Lockhart is a doctor and maternal character. She also featured regularly in TV westerns in the 50s, such as Have Gun Will Travel, Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, and Rawhide. Her hectic workload continued for the following 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 comedy series, where the host finds a lost collie, and in another sitcom in 1995 as the mother of a restaurant manager.

Later Roles and Contributions

Her final 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 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 original series had been to later astronauts, and often participated in the organization’s launches and other events. In 2013 her work as a volunteer representative brought her its Exceptional Public Achievement Medal.

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

Personal Information

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

She is survived by her daughters and four grandchildren.

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