June Lockhart, best known for her roles as Lassie’s mom and as Maureen Robinson in “Lost in Space,” has died. She was 100 years old.
The two-time Emmy Award nominee and Tony Award winner Lockhart died Thursday of natural causes at her home in Santa Monica, a family spokesperson announced.
Her father was character actor Gene Lockhart (“Miracle on 34th Street,” “His Girl Friday”) and her mother actress Kathleen Lockhart (“Lady in the Lake”) who were introduced to each other by Thomas Edison.
June made her film debut as a kid in 1938’s “A Christmas Carol”. Before she was 25 she racked up roles in films like “All This, and Heaven Too,” “Meet Me in St. Louis,” “Sergeant York” and “She-Wolf of London”.
But she became a household name in America after replacing Cloris Leachman as Ruth at the start of the fifth season of “Lassie” in September 1958. She had originally been approached before Leachman accepted the role, but had turned it down.
Lockhart played the role across more than 200 episodes and six seasons, even receiving an Emmy nomination for her work. After she left she landed arguably her most famous global role as biochemist and matriarch Maureen Robinson in the 1960s series “Lost in Space” which she starred in for three seasons
She also did a cameo in the 1998 “Lost in Space” film. After that series was cancelled, she joined “Petticoat Junction” as the town’s new doctor for its final seasons.
Other roles included matriarch Maria Ramirez on “General Hospital,” the grandmother of Tori Spelling on “Beverly Hills, 90210” and countless TV appearances across shows like “Battlestar Galactica,” “Magnum PI,” “Chicago Gire,” “Roseanne,” “The Drew Carey Show” and more. She also appeared in the 1986 film “Troll”.
Her daughter is actress Anne Lockhart who played Lt. Sheba on “Battlestar Galactica”.
Source: THR
