{"id":2115405,"date":"2025-10-25T20:03:03","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T20:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2115405"},"modified":"2025-10-25T20:03:03","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T20:03:03","slug":"june-lockhart-beloved-mom-on-lassie-and-lost-in-space-dies-at-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/june-lockhart-beloved-mom-on-lassie-and-lost-in-space-dies-at-100\/","title":{"rendered":"June Lockhart, Beloved Mom on \u2018Lassie\u2019 and \u2018Lost in Space,\u2019 Dies at 100"},"content":{"rendered":"

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June Lockhart, affectionately known as Lassie\u2019s mom to a generation of Baby Boomers for her portrayal of Ruth Martin on the long-running series, has died. She was 100.<\/p>\n

Lockhart, famous for playing other nurturing characters on two other CBS shows in the 1960s<\/span> \u2014 the matriarch on the sci-fi<\/span> drama Lost in Space<\/em> and the \u201clady doctor\u201d on the rural sitcom Petticoat Junction<\/em> \u2014 died Thursday of natural causes in Santa Monica, a family spokesperson announced.<\/p>\n

More from The Hollywood Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n

Her father was the great character actor Gene Lockhart \u2014 he received an Oscar nomination in 1939 for Algiers<\/em> and appeared in such classics as His Girl Friday<\/em>, Abe Lincoln in Illinois<\/em>, Meet John Doe<\/em> and Miracle on 34th<\/span> Street<\/em> \u2014 and her mother was actress Kathleen Lockhart (Lady in the Lake<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Her parents, who were introduced to each other by Thomas Edison when they barnstormed for him as he trotted out one of his inventions, appeared together as husband and wife Bob and Emily Cratchit in MGM\u2019s A Christmas Carol<\/em> (1938), and June made her movie debut in that film as one of their kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could say I am one of Edison\u2019s good ideas,\u201d she often said.<\/p>\n

Before she hit 25, the wholesome, bright-eyed Lockhart also appeared in All This, and Heaven Too<\/em> (1940) opposite Charles Boyer and Bette Davis; as Gary Cooper\u2019s sister in Sergeant York<\/em> (1941); as Lucille Ballard, the beauty first misjudged by Judy Garland, in Meet Me in St. Louis<\/em> (1944); as a woman convinced she\u2019s a monster in the Universal horror film She-Wolf of London<\/em> (1946); and as a supportive wife in T-Men<\/em> (1947), directed by Anthony Mann.<\/p>\n

Lockhart, who had a supporting role in MGM\u2019s 1945 sequel Son of Lassie<\/em>, became a household name in America soon after replacing Cloris<\/span> Leachman<\/span><\/a> as Ruth at the start of Lassie<\/em>\u2018s fifth season in September 1958. She had been approached before Leachman<\/span> accepted the role but had turned it down.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought about what I had been offered and said to myself, \u2018What am I being so damn grand about?’\u201d she once recalled. \u201cI have two children to support, the part they want me to play has a lot of dignity, the show is already on the air, I wouldn\u2019t have to film a pilot, and they have a sponsor. This is a really great gift that has been offered to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lockhart gave substance to the strong farm wife, always worried about whether her husband (Hugh Reilly) could bring in the bean crop. Their adopted son, Timmy, was played by Jon Provost, who had joined the series a season earlier at age 7 as an orphan runaway.<\/p>\n

Lockhart portrayed Ruth on more than 200 episodes and received an Emmy nomination in 1959. (During her run, four pooches played Lassie.) Soon after the start of the 1964-65 season, Lockhart, Reilly and Provost were written out as the \u201cboy and his dog\u201d theme was jettisoned in favor of the collie being paired with a Forest Service Ranger (Robert Bray). The family was moving to Australia, and the dog couldn\u2019t come with them, viewers were told.<\/p>\n

\u201cI certainly enjoyed Lassie<\/em>. I\u2019d be with it yet if they hadn\u2019t changed the format,\u201d she said decades later.<\/p>\n

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