The Hollywood legend June Lockhart, best known for her roles in beloved 1960s television shows like Lassie and Lost In Space, died on Thursday. She was 100 years-old.
Lockhart Passes Away
People Magazine has confirmed that Lockhart died on October 23 in Santa Monica, California at 9:20pm. The actress’s cause of death is currently listed as natural causes.
At the time of Lockhart’s passing, her daughter June Elizabeth and granddaughter Christianna were by her side.
“Mommy always considered acting her craft, but her true passions were journalism, politics, science, and NASA,” June Elizabeth said in a statement. “She cherished her role in Lost in Space and was delighted to know she inspired many future astronauts.”
Lockhart’s History
Lockhart had been one of the last surviving stars from the golden age of Hollywood. She was born in New York City in 1925 to the actors Gene and Kathleen Lockhart.
Lockhart was only 8 years-old when she made her stage debut in a Metropolitan Opera production of Peter Ibbetson. Her film debut came in 1938, when she starred alongside her parents in A Christmas Carol. Lockhart portrayed the daughter of Bob Cratchit, who was played by her father. Her mother played his wife.
“I thought my parents were wonderful as the Cratchits,” Lockhart later told The Ames Tribune in 2014. “And it was just great fun to see how a film was made. I loved the Victorian costumes.”
“We used to perform it every Christmas at home for our dinner guests,” she continued. “So I had already appeared in it, with my parents, in our living room for many years prior to doing it for MGM.”
Lockhart went on to fondly remember that her family particularly got a kick out of the fact that her first-ever words in a movie were “I know, I know — sausages.”
“It’s become a family joke, and we all shriek with laughter when we watch it now,” she explained.
Lockhart made her Broadway debut in 1947 in the play For Love or Money. She ended up winning the Tony for outstanding performance by a newcomer for that role. Despite this, Lockhart only appeared in one more Broadway show, starring in The Grand Prize in 1955.
“I like it all, but I think the hardest to do is theater,” Lockhart told the Chicago Tribune in 1987. “Television is fun. But theater is night after night after night.”
Lockhart Takes On Television
Lockhart began taking on television roles in 1949. Indeed, the medium of television was still in its infancy atthe time. Lockhart made guest appearances on early television shows like Hallmark Hall of Fame, Shirley Temple’s Storybook, Wagon Train and Gunsmoke. Much of her time was spent working on television Westerns, something she greatly enjoyed.
“I loved the period costumes with the long gowns and their cinched-in waists,” Lockhart told the Burlington County Times in 2015. “The stories were also marvelously written and could be quite provocative for their time.”
In 1958, Lockhart scored what would become one of her most famous roles when she was cast as Ruth Martin in the classic television series Lassie. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her work on the series the next year. Lockhart had previously been nominated for an Emmy in 1953, though that nomination does not appear to have been for a specific role.
After Lassie ended in 1964, Lockwood scored another iconic role when she was cast as Maureen Robinson in Lost in Space. The show ran from 1965 until 1968, and it’s arguably what Lockhart will be best remembered for. When Netflix remade the series with the same title in 2021, Lockhart was given a voice cameo.
Lost in Space was so popular that even decades after it went off the air, fans would approach Lockhart and tell her that she inspired them to become scientists.
“I did Lassie for six years, and I never had anybody come up to me and say, ‘It made me want to be a farmer,'” she joked to NPR in 2004.
Lockhart’s Later Roles
Lockhart continued acting in television for the rest of her life. She had guest appearances on TV shows like Marcus Welby, M.D., Magnum, P.I., Knots Landing, Murder, She Wrote, Full House, General Hospital, Grey’s Anatomy and Babylon 5. She also described her appearance on Roseanne playing the mother of Martin Mull’s Leon as being “the highlight of my career.“
At the time of her death, Lockhart had 179 film and TV credits, according to her IMDB page.
In her personal life, Lockhart was married and divorced twice. She is survived by two daughters.
Like her Lost in Space character, Lockhart was also passionate about space in real life. In 2014, NASA honored her with the Exceptional Public Achievement Medal.
“I’ve been to two space shuttle launches and worked with NASA since the 1970s, addressing their employees and traveling on NASA’s behalf to promote the agency,” she told The Denver Gazette at the time. “So I’m absolutely thrilled by this recognition. No other actress has received this honor.”
Rest in peace, June Lockhart.