June Lockhart, beloved mother figure from 'Lassie' and 'Lost In Space,'
dies at 100
[October 27, 2025]
By BOB THOMAS and BETH HARRIS
LOS ANGELES (AP) — June Lockhart, who became a mother figure for a
generation of television viewers whether at home in “Lassie” or up in
the stratosphere in “Lost in Space,” has died. She was 100.
Lockhart died Thursday of natural causes at her home in Santa Monica,
family spokesman Lyle Gregory, a friend of 40 years, said Saturday.
“She was very happy up until the very end, reading the New York Times
and LA Times everyday,” he said. “It was very important to her to stay
focused on the news of the day.”
The daughter of prolific character actor Gene Lockhart, Lockhart was
cast frequently in ingenue roles as a young film actor. Television made
her a star.
From 1958 to 1964, she portrayed Ruth Martin, who raised the orphaned
Timmy (Jon Provost), in the popular CBS series “Lassie.” From 1965 to
1968, she traveled aboard the spaceship Jupiter II as mother to the
Robinson family in the campy CBS adventure “Lost in Space.”
Her portrayals of warm, compassionate mothers endeared her to young
viewers, and decades later baby boomers flocked to nostalgia conventions
to meet Lockhart and buy her autographed photos.
Offscreen, Lockhart insisted, she was nothing like the women she
portrayed.
“I must quote Dan Rather,” she said in a 1994 interview. “I can control
my reputation, but not my image, because my image is how you see me.
“I love rock ‘n’ roll and going to the concerts. I have driven Army
tanks and flown in hot air balloons. And I go plane-gliding — the ones
with no motors. I do a lot of things that don’t go with my image.”
Early in her career, Lockhart appeared in numerous films. Among them:
“All This, and Heaven Too,” “Adam Had Four Sons,” “Sergeant York,” “Miss
Annie Rooney,” “Forever and a Day” and “Meet Me in St. Louis.”
She also made “Son of Lassie,” the 1945 sequel to “Lassie, Come Home,”
playing the grown-up version of the role created by Elizabeth Taylor.
New life on television
When her movie career as an adult faltered, Lockhart shifted to
television, appearing in live drama from New York and game and talk
shows. She was the third actor to play the female lead in “Lassie” on
TV, following Jan Clayton and Cloris Leachman. (Provost had replaced the
show’s original child star, Tommy Rettig, in 1957.)
Lockhart spoke frankly about her canine co-star: “I worked with four
Lassies. There was only one main Lassie at a time. Then there was a dog
that did the running, a dog that did the fighting, and a dog that was a
stand-in, because only humans can work 14 hours a day without needing a
nap.
“Lassie was not especially friendly with anybody. Lassie was wholly
concentrated on the trainers.”
After six years in the rural setting of “Lassie,” Lockhart moved to
outer space, embarking on the role of Maureen Robinson, the wise,
reassuring mother of a family that departs on a five-year flight to a
faraway planet in “Lost in Space.”
After their mission is sabotaged by a fellow passenger, the nefarious
Dr. Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris), the party bounces from planet to
planet, encountering weird creatures and near-disasters that required
viewers to tune in the following week to learn of the escape. Throughout
the three-year run, Mrs. Robinson offered consolation and a slice of her
“space pie.”
As with “Lassie,” Lockhart enjoyed working on “Lost in Space”: “It was
like going to work at Disneyland every day.”
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June Lockhart, right, who played the character of Ruth Martin,
mother of Timmy Martin, played by Jon Provost, left, during the
classic series "Lassie," poses for a photograph with Lassie, 9th
generation, during arrivals at CBS's 75th anniversary celebration
Sunday, Nov. 2, 2003, in New York. (AP Photo/Louis Lanzano, File)
 “So smart, quick, and funny — she
filled her 100 years with curiosity, laughter, and rock ’n’ roll,”
Angela Cartwright, who played her daughter on “Lost in Space” posted
on Facebook. “I can only imagine she’s feeling right at home as she
steps off this planet and into the stars.”
Bill Mumy, who played her son in the film, posted on social media:
“A one of a kind, talented, nurturing, adventurous, and non
compromising Lady. She did it her way. June will always be one of my
very favorite moms."
In 1968, Lockhart joined the cast of “Petticoat Junction” for the
rural comedy’s last two seasons, playing Dr. Janet Craig.
A little bit of everything
Lockhart remained active long after “Lost in Space,” appearing often
in episodic television as well as in recurring roles in the daytime
soap opera “General Hospital” and nighttime soaps, “Knots Landing”
and “The Colbys.” Her film credits included “The Remake” and the
animated “Bongee Bear and the Kingdom of Rhythm,” for which she
provided the voice for Mindy the Owl.
She also used her own media pass to attend presidential news
conferences, narrated beauty pageants and holiday parades, and
toured in the plays “Steel Magnolias,” “Bedroom Farce” and “Once
More with Feeling.”
“Her true passion was journalism,” Gregory said. “She loved going to
the White House briefing rooms.”
Lockhart liked to tell the story of how her parents met, saying they
were hired separately for a touring production sponsored by inventor
Thomas A. Edison and decided on marriage during a stop at Lake
Louise, Alberta.
Their daughter was born June 25, 1925, in New York City. The family
moved to Hollywood 10 years later, and Gene Lockhart worked steadily
as a character actor, usually in avuncular roles, sometimes as a
villain. His wife, Kathleen, often appeared with him.
Young June made her stage debut at 8, dancing in a children’s ballet
at the Metropolitan Opera House. Her first film appearance was a
small role in the 1938 “A Christmas Carol,” playing the daughter of
Bob Cratchit and his wife, who were played by her parents.
She was married and divorced twice: to John Maloney, a physician,
father of her daughters Anne Kathleen and June Elizabeth; and
architect John C. Lindsay.
Throughout her later career, Lockhart was connected in the public
mind with “Lassie.”
Even though she sometimes mocked the show, she conceded: “How
wonderful that in a career there is one role for which you are
known. Many actors work all their lives and never have one part that
is really theirs.”
___
Bob Thomas, a longtime Associated Press journalist who died in 2014,
was the principal writer of this obituary.
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