Sad news for classic TV and movie fans today, as June Lockhart, known for roles in Meet Me in St Louis, Lassie, and Lost in Space, has passed away at the age of 100.
One of the last remaining actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood, Lockhart’s career spanned nine decades, and several generations. She died on Thursday with her daughter Elizabeth and granddaughter Christianna at her side. Her cause of death was confirmed by her family to be from natural causes. In a statement (via Deadline), Elizabeth said:
“Mommy always considered acting as her craft, her vocation, but her true passions were journalism, politics, science and NASA. She cherished playing her role in Lost in Space and she was delighted to know that she inspired many future astronauts, as they would remind her on visits to NASA. That meant even more to her than the hundreds of television and movies roles she played.”
June Lockhart’s Career Spanned Generations
June Lockhart was born in 1925 in New York City, and entered the industry at the age of 8 when she appeared in the Metropolitan Opera House’s 1933 production of Peter Ibbetson. However, it was her subsequent screen roles that turned her into one of the most prolific stars of her generation.
Lockhart made 179 acting appearances between making her screen debut as Belinda Cratchit in the 1938 version of A Christmas Carol, all the way through to her final role with a voiceover cameo in an episode of Netflix’s Lost in Space reboot in 2021. Her career crossed all genres and mediums, although her largest body of work was in television.
Although her initial screen roles were in movies like Sergeant York, Keep Your Powder Dry, and Son of Lassie, through the 1940s and 1950s she was a guest star in many of the classic shows of the era, such as Climax!, Lights Out, Studio 57, and The Ford Theatre Hour. This was followed by roles in Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Petticoat Junction, and Bewitched.
Her most prolific role was playing Maureen Robinson in 84 episodes of Lost in Space. Even when the series ended, the actress remained connected to the franchise, having cameos in both the 1998 movie and the 2021 Netflix reboot.
Heading into the 1980s and beyond, the actress continued to make dozens of appearances on TV. Almost any and every big show included Lockhart as a guest star over the years, from Babylon 5 and Beverly Hills 90210, 46 episodes of General Hospital between 1984 and 1998, Grey’s Anatomy, and Cold Case. In the last decade, her appearances understandably diminished, but she continued to have roles infrequently, with her final projects being 2016’s The Remake, 2019’s animated Bongee Bear and the Kingdom of Rhythm, and her voice role as Alpha Control in Lost in Space.
- Release Date
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1965 – 1992
- Network
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CBS
- Directors
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Don Richardson, Nathan H. Juran, Sobey Martin, Ezra Stone, Harry Harris, Sutton Roley, Anton Leader, Irving J. Moore, Jus Addiss, Alexander Singer, Alvin Ganzer, Leo Penn, Leonard Horn, Paul Stanley, Robert Douglas
- Writers
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Peter Packer, Jackson Gillis, Robert Hamner, Carey Wilber, Wanda Duncan, Bob Duncan, Allan Balter, Shimon Wincelberg, William Read Woodfield, Jack Turley, Michael Fessier, Herman Groves
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Guy Williams
Dr. John Robinson
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June Lockhart
Dr. Maureen Robinson
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Torin Thatcher
The Space Trader
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