Actress of “Meijinu” and “Lost in Space” dies at 100 years old

June Lockhart has passed away. She was 100 years old.

The actress passed away on Thursday, October 23rd at 9:20pm (local time) in Santa Monica, California, sources confirmed.

Lockhart’s cause of death was natural causes. Her daughter June Elizabeth and granddaughter Christiana were by her side at the time of her death.

Lockhart’s funeral will be held privately. In lieu of flowers, her family requests that donations be made to the Actors Fund, ProPublica, or International Hearing Dogs, Inc.

The actress’ career spanned film and television. Her films included A Christmas Carol, See You in St. Louis, and The She-Wolf of London. On television, he starred in Lassie and Lost in Space. She was one of the last surviving stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Lockhart was born in New York City in 1925. Her parents, Gene and Kathleen, were also actors.

She made her stage debut at the Metropolitan Opera, directed by Peter Ibbetson, at just eight years old. Her first film role was in 1938’s A Christmas Carol, playing the daughter of Bob Cratchit, played by her father, and married by her mother.

“I thought my parents were great people, like the Cratchits, and it was really fun to see how the movie was made,” Lockhart told the Ames Tribune in 2014. “I loved Victorian costumes.”

“We used to play this song every Christmas for our dinner guests at home,” she said. “So, before I did this at MGM, I had been doing this in my living room with my parents for years and years.” She said her family particularly liked the fact that her first words in the film were “I know, I know, sausage,” explaining, “It’s become a family joke, and everyone’s squealing and laughing when they watch it now.”

Lockhart’s early film roles include All This, Heaven Two, Adam Had for Sons, Sergeant York, and The She-Wolf of London. In 1944, she appeared in another Christmas film, “See You in St. Louis.”

Lockhart appeared on Broadway twice, in 1947’s For Love or Money and 1955’s The Grand Prix. For the former, he won the Tony Award for Outstanding Performance by a Newcomer. “I love them all, but I think theater is the most difficult,” she told the Chicago Tribune in 1987. “Television is fun, but there’s a play every night.”

She began appearing on television in 1949. He has guest starred on shows such as Hallmark’s Hall of Fame, Shirley Temple’s Storybook, Wagon Train, and Gunsmoke. She appeared in many early Westerns, telling the Burlington County Times in 2015, “I loved the period costumes, with the long gowns and cinched waists. The stories were also wonderfully written and could have been quite provocative for the time.”

In 1958, she appeared on the television series “Name Dog”. She took over the role of Ruth Martin from Cloris Leachman. The series follows Timmy, played by Jon Provost, as he goes on adventures with the iconic title dog.

Lockhart and the Dean became very close. “My own mother may forget my birthday, but June never forgets,” Provost told PEOPLE in 1994. Lockhart received Emmy nominations for the series in 1953 and 1959.

After her stint on the show ended, she appeared on Lost in Space from 1965 to 1968. The show was inspired by the novel The Swiss Robinsons, in which Lockhart played the mother of a family of space colonists. In 2021, she had a voice cameo in the remake series Lost in Space, also on Netflix.

People told her that watching “Lost in Space” inspired her to become a scientist, she told NPR in 2004. “I did Lassie for six years, and no one ever came up to me and said, ‘That made me want to be a farmer,'” she joked.

When the series ended, she appeared on Petticoat Junction for its final two seasons from 1968 to 1970. Her television appearances over the next few years included appearances on Dr. Marcus Welby, Magnum, P.I., Knots Landing, Murder, She Wrote, Full House, General Hospital, Grey’s Anatomy, and Babylon 5. She also appeared on Roseanne as the mother of Leon, played by Martin Mull, and told PEOPLE: “My highlight was In total, she had over 150 film and television credits.

She often played a mother on television, which she claimed was much more interesting than her on-screen alter ego. “I love rock and roll and I love going to concerts,” she told the Chicago Tribune in 1994. “I’ve driven military tanks, rode in hot air balloons, and glided in planes without motors. I do a lot of things that don’t match my image,” she told the show, who recently narrated Ren and Stimpy because it was her favorite show. “I try to never miss an episode because I’m such a fan,” she said.

The actress received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for film and one for television. They were dedicated on the same day in 1960. Lockhart is also a space enthusiast, and in 2014, NASA awarded her the Distinguished Achievement Medal. “I participated in two Space Shuttle launches and worked with NASA since the 1970s, addressing employees and traveling on behalf of NASA to promote NASA,” she told the Denver Gazette at the time. “So I’m very excited about this award. No other actress has received this honor.”

She has loved following the American presidency ever since she met President Harry Truman in 1948. She told the New York Post in 2016 that he asked her what it was like to be in the Oval Office. “He looked at me and said, ‘It’s like being in prison.'” President Dwight Eisenhower’s press secretary Jim Hagerty gave her a lifetime press pass, and she attended press conferences in Washington, D.C., and California for the next 47 years. A lover of following the news, she frequently appeared on celebrity trivia shows and enjoyed success.

Lockhart married John F. Maloney in 1951 and they had two daughters, Anne and June Elizabeth. She divorced Maroney in 1959.