June Lockhart, the warm-voiced television matriarch who anchored two generations of family viewing on “Lassie” and “Lost in Space,” died Oct. 23 at her home in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 100. Her family said she died of natural causes, with her daughter, June Elizabeth, and granddaughter, Christianna, at her side.
Born June 25, 1925, in New York City to actors Gene and Kathleen Lockhart, she stepped onstage at age 8 and made her film debut at 13 in 1938’s “A Christmas Carol,” appearing with both parents. Early credits included “All This, and Heaven Too,” “Sergeant York,” “Meet Me in St. Louis,” and “She-Wolf of London.” On Broadway, she won a best-newcomer Tony Award for her 1947 debut in “For Love or Money.”
Lockhart became one of television’s most familiar faces in the 1950s and ’60s. She played Ruth Martin, Timmy’s adoptive mother, on “Lassie” (1958–64), then embraced the space-age future as Maureen Robinson on “Lost in Space” (1965–68). She later joined “Petticoat Junction” as Dr. Janet Craig and continued to pop up across the dial for decades, from “General Hospital,” “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Full House” to a winking voice role on “The Ren & Stimpy Show.”
A lifelong space enthusiast, Lockhart was celebrated by the NASA community and in 2014 received the agency’s Exceptional Public Achievement Medal, reflecting how her on-screen adventures inspired real-world scientists and engineers.
Tributes poured in over the weekend. Bill Mumy, who played her son on “Lost in Space,” praised her talent and tenacity.
Lockhart was among the last surviving stars to bridge Hollywood’s studio era and the rise of television, amassing more than 150 screen credits while embodying a calm, capable kind of motherhood—first at a farmhouse with a clever collie, then aboard a Jupiter-bound spacecraft. She is survived by her daughters, Anne and June Elizabeth.
Source: People