June Lockhart, the eternal TV mom who comforted her son Timmy and his faithful pet collie on “Lassie” and explained the development of the galaxy to her children on the campy primetime sci-fi show “Lost in Space,” has died.
Lockhart, active in Hollywood until she was 90, died Thursday in Santa Monica of natural causes, with her daughter June Elizabeth Lockhart-Triolo and granddaughter Christianna Triolo at her side, said her publicist, B. Harlan Boll.
She was 100 years old.
Optimistic and cheerful, Lockhart happily agreed to play second fiddle to children, animals, and even a robot. In “Lassie,” she is most often seen teaching her son small life lessons gleaned from her misadventures, often saved from danger by her faithful dog. In “Lost in Space,” she was a biochemist who seemed to spend most of her time preparing meals in the kitchen or tending to the kids while the “Swiss Family Robinson”-type clan wandered randomly through space.
“Motherhood has been a good cop-out for me,” Lockhart told The Times, years after the shows went off the air. “I seem to have outlived most of my colleagues because of that.”
Cast members of the television show “Lost in Space” in costume in 1965. Seated is Marta Kristen; Standing, from left, are Mark Goddard, June Lockhart and Guy Williams.
(AP/CBS)
June Kathleen Lockhart was born on June 25, 1925 in New York City and grew up in a family steeped in the arts. His father was a Broadway actor and his mother a singer. For years, the family hosted a seasonal production of “A Christmas Carol” at their home, inviting neighbors, friends and family to attend.
In 1938, the family went a step further and brought their already well-polished version of the Charles Dickens classic to the cinema with a young Lockhart cast as Belinda Cratchit. The film lasted one hour and nine minutes.
Lockhart attended Westlake School for Girls after the family moved to Los Angeles, where her father hoped to find a career as a film actor. But it was Lockhart who broke into Hollywood, landing modest but frequent roles on popular television shows such as “Wagon Train,” “Gunsmoke” and “Rawhide.”
In 1958, she was chosen to play Ruth Martin, the patient and kind mother of “Lassie”, a role that earned her an Emmy nomination. The show ran for 17 seasons, making it one of the longest-running primetime television shows. Lockhart left the series in 1964 to pursue other opportunities.
Lockhart realized that the program had its limitations. “It was a fairy tale about people on a farm where the dog solves all the problems in 22 minutes, just in time for the last commercial,” he told The Times.
The scripts were only a little more challenging in “Lost in Space,” which followed the adventures of a family aboard a saucer-shaped spaceship headed to an Earth-like planet orbiting a distant star. She left the show after three years and joined the cast of “Petticoat Junction” as a doctor who sets up her practice in a run-down hotel in the middle of nowhere.
Contestant of the contest to the press corps
Earlier in his life, Lockhart had been a regular on the news quiz show “Who Said That?” in which contestants were read a quote and asked to guess who said it. Lockhart had been absorbed by journalism and newsmaking since childhood, when she founded a neighborhood newspaper. As an adult she subscribed to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times, reading them cover to cover.
To prepare for the show, he began cutting quotes from newspapers and memorizing them. One of the show's panelists, a White House reporter for United Press International, was so impressed with Lockhart's grasp of politics that he invited her to a briefing at the White House.
Lockhart became an unofficial member of the White House press corps, attending briefings, traveling with Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy's entourage during their presidential showdown, and campaigning with Ronald Reagan.
Lockhart, pictured in 1965, also became an informal White House correspondent.
(CBS via Getty Images)
During her years as an informal White House correspondent, she was called only once to ask a question during a presidential briefing, asking President George W. Bush for the name of the veterinarian who cared for the first family's dog, Barney. Bush chuckled and said it was top secret.
Although she never had another role as important in prime time as in “Lassie” or “Lost in Space,” her career was remarkably long. She was a kindergarten teacher on “Three by Three,” mother to James Caan on “Las Vegas,” a mother again on “The Drew Carey Show,” and a hospice worker on “Grey’s Anatomy.” For years he hosted coverage of the Rose Parade on CBS.
His last credit came in 2018, when he voiced a radio communications officer in Netflix's “Lost in Space” reboot. Lockhart, twice married and divorced, is survived by his daughters Lockhart-Triolo and Anne Lockhart, as well as four grandchildren, said Lyle Gregory, a longtime family friend.
The service will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Actors Fund, ProPublica and International Hearing Dog Inc.
Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.
