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By Mandy Taheri
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Actress June Lockhart, best known for her roles in Lassie and Lost in Space, died at age 100 on Thursday.
What To Know
Lockhart died of natural causes in her Santa Monica, California, home on Thursday, family spokesperson Lyle Gregory said on Saturday. PEOPLE magazine confirmed that the actress died Thursday night around 9:20 p.m. local time. She was with her daughter June Elizabeth and granddaughter Christianna, according to the statement.
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Born in New York City in 1925, she grew up acting at a young age, as her father, Gene Lockhart, was a character actor and playwright, and her mother Kathleen Lockhart, was a stage and screen actress. At eight years old, she experienced her first professional stage experience, appearing in a scene at the opera Peter Ibbetson.
Lockhart appeared in several films, but was best known for television, notably as Ruth Martin on Lassie and Maureen Robinson on Lost in Space. She also appeared on shows like Shirley Temple’s Storybook, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, Bewitched, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Petticoat Junction, Happy Days, Magnum P.I., Falcon Crest, Full House, Roseanne, 7th Heaven, Beverly Hills 90210 and Grey’s Anatomy, as well as in films Meet Me in St. Louis, She-Wolf of London, Bury Me Dead, and others.
She also performed on Broadway twice, in For Love or Money, which earned her a Tony Award, and The Grand Prize.
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Having performed in several early Westerns, she told The Burlington County Times in 2015, “I loved the period costumes with the long gowns and their cinched-in waists. The stories were also marvelously written and could be quite provocative for their time.”
While Lockhart is known for her maternal characters on screen, she told The Chicago Tribune in 1994 that there’s a lot more than meets the eye, saying “I love rock ‘n’ roll and going to concerts,” and “I have driven army tanks and flown in hot-air balloons, and I go plane-gliding—the ones with no motors. I do lots of things that don’t go hand-in-hand with my image.”
Given her role as Maureen Robinson, it was fitting that she was a space enthusiast. She was recognized by NASA for her impact on space exploration with an Exceptional Public Achievement Medal in 2013.
A news junkie, Gregory said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press, “She was very happy up until the very end, reading the New York Times and LA Times everyday. It was very important to her to stay focused on the news of the day.”
An avid news consumer, she used her own press pass to attend presidential news conferences and briefings. Gregory said, “Her true passion was journalism. She loved going to the White House briefing rooms.”
Lockhart was married to John Maloney, who she had her two daughters with, Anne Kathleen and June Elizabeth. They divorced and she married John Lindsay, who she also divorced. She celebrated her 100th birthday in June.
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What People Are Saying
June Elizabeth said in a statement: “Mommy always considered acting as her craft, her vocation, but her true passions were journalism, politics, science and NASA. She cherished playing her role in Lost in Space and she was delighted to know that she inspired many future astronauts, as they would remind her on visits to NASA. That meant even more to her than the hundreds of television and movies roles she played.”
Angela Cartwright, who played Lockhart’s daughter on Lost in Space said in a Saturday Facebook post: “I was so very sad to hear that June Lockhart has passed away. She played my mom on ‘Lost in Space’, and I’ll always treasure our time together on and off the screen. So smart, quick, and funny — she filled her 100 years with curiosity, laughter, and rock ’n’ roll. I can only imagine she’s feeling right at home as she steps off this planet and into the stars.”
Bill Mumy, who played Lockhart’s son in Lost in Space, said in an Instagram post Saturday: “Goodbye to the brilliant June Lockhart. 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. 100 years here. Wow! R.I.P.”
Costume designer Jean-Pierre Dorleac said in an X post Saturday: "If it hadn’t been for my dearest and oldest friend, June Lockhart, I wouldn’t have become the celebrated costume designer I became. June promoted and encouraged me throughout the 55 years we have known each other. What a sensational and fantastic LADY!!!"
Television producer and director Bryce Zabel said in an X post on Saturday: "As a kid, I thought it would have been pretty cool to have been lost in space with June Lockhart. I'm glad she got to live to be 100. Good for her."
What Happens Next?
Funeral services for Lockhart will be private, and in lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to be made to three organizations: the Actors Fund, ProPublica, and International Hearing Dog Inc, PEOPLE and Deadline reported.
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