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Starting her career in cinema, June Lockhart, who passed on aged 100, achieved her greatest success after switching predominantly to the small screen. Having been given few opportunities to shine in movies from her first appearance as a child in 1938 until 1947, she excelled on TV in numerous beloved series, especially in Lassie.

Becoming Ruth Martin on Lassie

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

In her part as a housewife, Lockhart somehow managed to avoid being completely overshadowed by the intelligent canine. She described the show as “a fantasy about people on a farm in which the dog solves all the problems in 22 minutes, in time for the last commercial”. After she left the show, Lockhart commented: “In six chaste years of playing a country spouse and mother, I was rarely permitted to kiss my on-screen husband on the face.”

Journey into Lost in Space

Lockhart went straight into another hit, Lost in Space (1965-68), a semi-spoof sci-fi series targeted primarily at children and inspired 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 deftly trying to survive special effects. As the series progressed, the narrative became less and less about this interstellar clan and increasingly about the young son and his friendship with a robot, and the cowardly villain Dr Zachary Smith.

Initial Career and Family Influence

Lockhart’s movie 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 British-born Kathleen and Canadian-born Gene were both actors in many of movies, as well as on stage, it was almost certain that June, who was born in New York, would enter 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 parent was given a contract by a motion picture studio, after his success on Broadway, she relocated with her parents to Hollywood, where Gene made approximately 300 films. After going to school in Beverly Hills, June started her professional life 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 last one, she is delightful as a New Yorker at a family party, whose schedule is filled maliciously to prevent Lockhart dancing with her sibling.

More significantly, although she did not know it at the time, was Son of Lassie (1945). It was one of multiple follow-ups to the hugely successful Lassie Come Home (1943), in which a young star had played the girl who assists the canine to return to the owners. In the later film, Lockhart played the now grown-up character.

The loving way in which she interacted with both Lassie and her offspring, Laddie, protagonist 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 Stage Achievement

Although she was offered leading roles in two suspense films, 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 different direction, she received praise on Broadway in For Love or Money (1947), a comedy for which she won a Tony award as most promising newcomer.

A additional substantial run came with Petticoat Junction (1968-70), set in a country hotel, where Lockhart is a physician and maternal character. She also appeared frequently in TV westerns in the 50s, such as Have Gun Will Travel, Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, and Rawhide. Her hectic schedule continued for the next 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 talkshow, where the host finds a lost collie, and in another sitcom in 1995 as the mother of a restaurant manager.

Final Career and Impact

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

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

Private Details

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

She is remembered by her children and four grandchildren.

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