SANTA MONICA, Calif. (KABC) — June Lockhart, the actress whose decades-long career began during Hollywood’s Golden Age with such films as “A Christmas Carol” and “Meet Me in St. Louis” and went on to include television roles in the iconic television series “Lassie” and “Lost in Space,” has died, her publicist confirmed Saturday. He was 100.
Lockhart’s death from natural causes occurred Thursday night at her home in Santa Monica, where her daughter June Elizabeth and granddaughter Christiannawere at her side.
Born in New York on June 25,1925, Lockhart made her stage debut at 8 years old in the 1933 production of Peter Ibbetson at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. She began acting in films at 13 years old in MGM’s 1938 version of “A Christmas Carol” with her parents, Gene and Kathleen Lockhart, as the stars of the movie. At 19 years of age as a contract player at MGM she was the intelligent, pivotal character Lucille Ballard in “Meet Me in St. Louis,” under the direction of Vincent Minnelli.
Lockhart was perhaps best known to TV audiences of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s as the gentle, soft-voiced loving mother in “Lassie,” with scripts written by many blacklisted writers. Later, in a new world as space mom, Maureen Robinson, in “Lost in Space,” and as Dr. Janet Craig in the series “Petticoat Junction.” June appeared in numerous episodic series and contributed her voice to her favorite animated series “Ren & Stimpy” for Nickelodeon.
With two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a total of five for the Lockhart family, June Lockhart was an inspiration to generations of astronauts. She became a treasured NASA spokesperson attending many NASA launches and landings throughout the decades, including side-by-side with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin at NASA’s milestone 2009 anniversary celebration in Washington, D.C. for the 40th Anniversary of the Moon landing.
Lockhart’s daughter June Elizabeth said: “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.”
Throughout June’s life she was a tireless defender of animal rights, and among other groups, she supported the Santa Monica Mounted Police Horses and was the National Spokesperson for International Hearing Dog Inc. Her heart belonged to her grand-Pug Massimo, who was always nearby, and a great source of entertainment.
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