June Lockhart, beloved mother figure of

LOS ANGELES (AP) — June Lockhart, who became a mother figure to a generation of television viewers, whether at home on “Lassie” or in the stratosphere on “Lost In Space,” has died. She was 100 years old.

Lockhart died Thursday of natural causes at his home in Santa Monica, family spokesman Lyle Gregory, a friend of 40 years, said Saturday.

“She was very happy until the end, reading the New York Times and the LA Times every day,” he said. “It was very important for her to stay focused on the news of the day.”

The daughter of prolific character actor Gene Lockhart, Lockhart was frequently cast in naïve roles as a young film actor. Television made her a star.

From 1958 to 1964, she played Ruth Martin, who raised orphan Timmy (Jon Provost), on the popular News series “Lassie.” From 1965 to 1968, she traveled aboard the Jupiter II spacecraft as the mother of the Robinson family in the campy News 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 autographed photographs from her.

Off screen, Lockhart insisted, she looked nothing like the women she portrayed.

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“I have to quote Dan Rather,” he said in a 1994 interview. “I can control my reputation, but I can’t control my image, because my image is how you see me.

“I love rock ‘n’ roll and going to concerts. I’ve driven army tanks and flown in hot air balloons. And I travel in airplanes, the ones that don’t have an engine. I do a lot of things that don’t fit my image.”

Early in his career, Lockhart appeared in numerous films. Among them: “All This and Heaven Too,” “Adam Had Four Children,” “Sergeant York,” “Miss Annie Rooney,” “Forever and a Day,” and “Meet Me in St. Louis.”

He also made “Son of Lassie,” the 1945 sequel to “Lassie, Come Home,” playing the adult version of the role created by Elizabeth Taylor.

New life on television

When her adult film career failed, Lockhart moved into television, appearing in live-from-New York dramas and on talk and game shows. She was the third actress to play the female lead of “Lassie” on television, after Jan Clayton and Cloris Leachman. (Provost had replaced the show’s original child star, Tommy Rettig, in 1957.)

Lockhart spoke candidly about her canine co-star. First, he said in 1989, Lassie was a boy, because male collies “are bigger, the ruff is bigger and they look more imposing.”

He added: “I worked with four Lassies. There was only one main Lassie at a time. Then there was a running dog, a fighting dog and a backup dog, because only humans can work 14 hours a day without needing a nap.

“Lassie wasn’t particularly friendly to anyone. Lassie was totally focused on the trainers.”

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After six years in the rural setting of “Lassie,” Lockhart moved to outer space and took on the role of Maureen Robinson, the wise and reassuring mother of a family who embarks on a five-year flight to a distant planet in “Lost in Space.”

After their mission is sabotaged by a fellow traveler, the infamous Dr. Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris), the group jumps from planet to planet, encountering strange creatures and near-disasters that required viewers to tune in next week to learn of the escape. Throughout the three years, Mrs. Robinson offered comfort 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.”

In 1968, Lockhart joined the cast of “Petticoat Junction” for the country comedy’s final two seasons, playing Dr. Janet Craig. The original star, Bea Benaderet, had been diagnosed with cancer and died, also in 1968.

a little of everything

Lockhart remained active long after “Lost in Space,” often appearing in episodic television, as well as recurring roles on the daytime soap opera “General Hospital” and the late-night soap operas, “Knots Landing” and “The Colbys.” Her film credits include “The Remake” and the animated film “Bongee Bear and the Kingdom of Rhythm,” for which she provided the voice of Mindy the Owl.

He also used his own press pass to attend presidential press conferences, narrated beauty pageants and Christmas parades, appeared in B movies and toured in the plays “Steel Magnolias,” “Bedroom Farce” and “Once More with Feeling.”

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“His true passion was journalism,” Gregory said. “He loved going to the White House briefing rooms.”

Lockhart liked to tell the story of how his parents met, saying they were hired separately for a touring production sponsored by inventor Thomas A. Edison and decided to get married during a stop in Lake Louise, Alberta.

Their daughter was born on 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 paternal roles, sometimes as a villain. His wife, Kathleen, often appeared with him.

Young June made her theatrical debut at age 8, dancing in a children’s ballet at the Metropolitan Opera House. Her first film appearance was a small role in 1938’s “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 doctor, father of her daughters Anne Kathleen and June Elizabeth; and architect John C. Lindsay.

Throughout her later career, Lockhart was connected in the public’s mind to “Lassie.”

Although he sometimes mocked the show, he admitted: “How wonderful that in a career there is a role that you are known for. Many actors work their entire lives and never have a role that is truly theirs.”

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Bob Thomas, a longtime News journalist who died in 2014, was the lead author of this obituary.