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June Lockhart, the cherished actress celebrated for her roles in Lassie and Lost in Space, has passed away at the impressive age of 100. As one of the final icons from Hollywood’s Golden Age, her departure marks the end of an era. Lockhart died peacefully on Thursday, October 23, at 9:20 p.m. in Santa Monica, California, as confirmed by People. She was surrounded by her daughter, June Elizabeth, and her granddaughter, Christianna. The cause of her death has been attributed to natural causes.
In honor of Lockhart’s life and legacy, her family has opted for private funeral services. They have requested that, instead of sending flowers, well-wishers make donations to The Actors Fund, ProPublica, and International Hearing Dog, Inc., reflecting the causes close to her heart.
June Lockhart’s journey began in 1925 in New York City, born to actor parents Gene and Kathleen Lockhart. Her introduction to the stage occurred at the tender age of eight, when she appeared in a Metropolitan Opera production of Peter Ibbetson. Her film debut followed not long after, with a role in the 1938 adaptation of A Christmas Carol, where she acted alongside her parents.
In a 2014 interview with the Ames Tribune, Lockhart reminisced about her early experiences in film. “I thought my parents were wonderful as the Cratchits, and it was just great fun to see how a film was made,” she shared, recalling her fondness for the Victorian costumes that captured her imagination.
“I thought my parents were wonderful as the Cratchits, and it was just great fun to see how a film was made,” she told the Ames Tribune in 2014. “I loved the Victorian costumes.”
She added that her first movie line — “I know, I know — sausages” — became a running family joke. “It’s become a family joke, and we all shriek with laughter when we watch it now,” she said.
Lockhart’s early film work included All This, and Heaven Too, Sergeant York, and Meet Me in St. Louis. She later won a Tony Award for her Broadway debut in For Love or Money in 1947. “I like it all, but I think the hardest to do is theater,” she told the Chicago Tribune in 1987.
By the 1950s, she was a familiar face on early television, appearing in Hallmark Hall of Fame, Wagon Train, and Gunsmoke. “I loved the period costumes with the long gowns and their cinched-in waists,” she told the Burlington County Times in 2015.
Her career-defining role came in 1958, when she joined Lassie as Ruth Martin, earning two Emmy nominations. “My own mother might forget my birthday, but June never does,” co-star Jon Provost told People in 1994.
In 1965, she swapped the farm for the cosmos, starring as Maureen Robinson on Lost in Space. “I did Lassie for six years, and I never had anybody come up to me and say, ‘It made me want to be a farmer,’” she joked to NPR in 2004.
Lockhart went on to appear in Petticoat Junction, Murder, She Wrote, Full House, and Roseanne — which she called “the highlight of my career.”
Offscreen, she was as adventurous as she was iconic. “I love rock ‘n’ roll and going to concerts,” she told The Chicago Tribune in 1994. “I have driven army tanks and flown in hot-air balloons, and I go plane-gliding — the ones with no motors.”
A longtime NASA supporter, she received the agency’s Exceptional Public Achievement Medal in 2014. “I’ve been to two space shuttle launches and worked with NASA since the 1970s,” she told The Denver Gazette. “So I’m absolutely thrilled by this recognition. No other actress has received this honor.”
Lockhart is survived by her daughters, Anne and June Elizabeth — and by decades of television history that continue to orbit her legacy.
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