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Starting her career in films, June Lockhart, who died aged 100, found her biggest success after switching largely to television. Having been given few chances to shine in films from her debut as a child in 1938 until 1947, she excelled on TV in numerous popular series, especially in Lassie.

Portraying Ruth Martin on Lassie

Taking over from another actress 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 collie was the titular star of the series.

In her part as a housewife, Lockhart somehow succeeded to avoid being totally overshadowed by the intelligent canine. She described 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 departed the show, Lockhart commented: “In six sexless years of playing a rural spouse and mother, I was hardly ever permitted to kiss my on-screen husband on the face.”

Adventure into Lost in Space

Lockhart went straight into a second hit, Lost in Space (1965-68), a partly comedic sci-fi series aimed mostly at children and based by The Swiss Family Robinson. Lockhart and another actor played Maureen and John Robinson, two researchers exploring distant planets. Lockhart had to spend the majority of her time deftly trying to survive special effects. As the series progressed, the storyline became less and less about this space family and increasingly about the young son and his bond with a robot, and the timid antagonist Dr Zachary Smith.

Early Career and Family Background

Lockhart’s movie 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 actors in dozens of movies, as well as on theater, it was almost inevitable that June, who was born in New York, would enter show business.

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

Transition to Hollywood and Film Roles

When her parent was given a contract by a film studio, after his acclaim on Broadway, she moved with her family to Hollywood, where Gene made approximately 300 films. After attending school in Beverly Hills, June started her professional life 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 household party, whose schedule is arranged spitefully to stop Lockhart interacting with her sibling.

More importantly, although she did not realize it at the time, was Son of Lassie (1945). It was one of several follow-ups to the hugely successful Lassie Come Home (1943), in which another actress had played the girl who helps the dog to return to the owners. In the subsequent film, Lockhart played the now grown-up version.

The loving way in which she handled both Lassie and her son, Laddie, protagonist of a wartime adventure in enemy-held Norway, was in the minds of the producers when it came to selecting the Lassie TV series 13 years later.

Television and Theater Work

Although she was offered leading roles in two thrillers, She-Wolf of London (1946) and Bury Me Dead (1947), Lockhart decided her film career was stagnating and that television would be the answer. Before embarking in a new direction, she won acclaim on Broadway in For Love or Money (1947), a humorous play for which she won a Tony award as best newcomer.

A additional significant run came with Petticoat Junction (1968-70), set in a country hotel, where Lockhart is a physician and maternal character. She also featured frequently in TV westerns 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 recurring 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 host finds a stray collie, and in another sitcom in 1995 as the parent of a restaurant manager.

Final Career and Legacy

Her final TV credit came in 2021 as the narration of Alpha Control in an episode of a digital platform’s remake of Lost in Space. In the movie version starring well-known actors (1998), she had a digital cameo as a school principal. She took pleasure in learning how much of an influence the original series had been to future astronauts, and often participated in the agency’s launches and other events. In 2013 her work as a unpaid representative brought her its prestigious award.

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.

Private Information

In 1951 she married 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