🔗 Share this article

June Lockhart, who passed away at the remarkable age of 100, started her career in movies, but achieved fame after moving almost entirely to TV. Having been given few chances to excel in movies from her debut as a child in 1938 until 1947, she thrived on TV in many popular series, especially in Lassie.

Becoming Ruth Martin on Lassie

Stepping in from a previous star in 1958, Lockhart continued in the series until 1964. She played Ruth Martin, married to farmer Paul Martin and the adoptive mother of seven-year-old Timmy Martin, whose collie was the titular hero of the series.

Even with playing a housewife, Lockhart adeptly avoided being outshone by the smart animal star. She described the program as “a fairy tale about people on a farm in which the dog resolves all the problems in 22 minutes, in time for the last commercial”. After she departed the series, Lockhart commented: “In six chaste years of playing a rural spouse and mother, I was hardly ever permitted to peck my on-screen husband on the cheek.”

Adventure into Lost in Space

Lockhart went straight into another successful series, Lost in Space (1965-68), a partly comedic science fiction series aimed primarily at young audiences and inspired by The Swiss Family Robinson. Lockhart and another actor portrayed Maureen and John Robinson, two researchers exploring distant planets. Lockhart had to spend the majority of her time skillfully trying to navigate visual effects. As the series progressed, the storyline became less and less about this interstellar family and more about the boy and his friendship with a robot, and the timid villain Dr Zachary Smith.

Beginnings in Entertainment

Lockhart’s feature film debut, at the young age of 13, had come as Belinda Cratchit in A Christmas Carol (1938). In the parts of her parents, Bob and Mrs Cratchit, were her actual parents, Gene and Kathleen Lockhart. As British-born Kathleen and Canada-native Gene were both performers in many of films, as well as on stage, it was nearly inevitable that June, who was born in New York, would join show business.

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

Cinema Career

When her parent was given a deal by a motion picture studio, after his acclaim on Broadway, she moved with her parents to Hollywood, where Gene made approximately 300 films. After attending school in Beverly Hills, June started her career in movies, mostly 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 filled spitefully to stop Lockhart dancing with her brother.

More importantly, although she did not realize it at the time, was Son of Lassie (1945). It was one of multiple sequels to the extremely successful Lassie Come Home (1943), in which another actress had played the female character who helps the dog to escape to the family. In the later film, Lockhart played the now adult character.

The loving way in which she interacted with both Lassie and her son, Laddie, hero of a World War II adventure in Nazi-occupied Norway, was in the consideration 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 suspense films, She-Wolf of London (1946) and Bury Me Dead (1947), Lockhart concluded her film career was getting her nowhere and that television would be the solution. Before embarking in a different direction, she won praise on Broadway in For Love or Money (1947), a humorous play for which she won a Tony award as most promising newcomer.

A additional significant run came with Petticoat Junction (1968-70), set in a country hotel, where Lockhart is a doctor and mother figure. She also featured regularly in TV westerns in the 50s, such as Have Gun Will Travel, Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, and Rawhide. Her hectic workload persisted for the next five decades, with a regular role in General Hospital between 1984 and 1998. Among her many one-off appearances were as herself in a 1988 episode of a talkshow, where the presenter finds a stray collie, and in another sitcom in 1995 as the parent of a restaurant manager.

Final Career and Impact

Her last TV credit came in 2021 as the narration of Alpha Control in an episode of a streaming service’s new version of Lost in Space. In the big screen version featuring well-known actors (1998), she had a holographic cameo as a school principal. She took pleasure in learning how much of an influence the first series had been to later astronauts, and often participated in the organization’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 witch, with her own daughter, Anne Lockhart, playing her earlier self.

Personal Life and Family

In 1951 she wed John Maloney, a doctor and former Navy doctor. In addition to Anne, they had another daughter, June. That union ended in separation, as did her subsequent marriage, to John Lindsay, an designer.

She is remembered by her daughters and four grandchildren.

June Lockhart, actress, born 25 June 1925; died 23 October 2025