RM June Lockhart, beloved star of Lassie and Lost in Space and one of the final surviving icons of Hollywood’s Golden Age, has passed away at the age of 100.
The actress died peacefully of natural causes on Thursday, Oct. 23, at 9:20 p.m. in Santa Monica, California, PEOPLE confirms. Her daughter, June Elizabeth, and granddaughter, Christianna, were by her side at the time of her passing.
Lockhart’s funeral will be held privately. In lieu of flowers, her family asks that donations be made to The Actors Fund, ProPublica, or International Hearing Dog, Inc.
Born in New York City in 1925 to actors Gene and Kathleen Lockhart, June was practically raised in show business. She first appeared on stage at the age of 8 in the Metropolitan Opera’s Peter Ibbetson, and made her film debut in 1938’s A Christmas Carol, appearing alongside both of her parents. “My parents were wonderful as the Cratchits, and it was so much fun to see how a film was made,” she told the Ames Tribune in 2014. Her first film line — “I know, I know — sausages” — became a cherished family joke for years.
Her early film credits included All This, and Heaven Too, Adam Had Four Sons, Sergeant York, She-Wolf of London, and the holiday classic Meet Me in St. Louis (1944).
Lockhart’s Broadway debut came in For Love or Money (1947), for which she won a Tony Award as Outstanding Newcomer. She returned to the stage in The Grand Prize (1955), later telling the Chicago Tribune that theater was “the hardest, but most rewarding” form of acting.
Beginning in 1949, she made regular television appearances on series such as Hallmark Hall of Fame, Wagon Train, and Gunsmoke. She often appeared in Westerns, later recalling that she loved the “beautiful period costumes” and strong storytelling of the genre.
In 1958, Lockhart stepped into the role of Ruth Martin on Lassie, replacing Cloris Leachman. She starred on the show for six years, earning Emmy nominations in 1953 and 1959, and forming a lifelong friendship with her onscreen son, Jon Provost.
Following Lassie, she found new fame as Maureen Robinson in Lost in Space (1965–1968), playing the matriarch of a family of space explorers. Decades later, she voiced a cameo in Netflix’s modern remake. “People often tell me Lost in Space inspired them to become scientists,” she told NPR in 2004. “No one ever told me Lassie made them want to be a farmer!”
Her later TV credits spanned decades, with appearances on Petticoat Junction, Marcus Welby, M.D., Magnum, P.I., Murder, She Wrote, Full House, General Hospital, Grey’s Anatomy, Babylon 5, and Roseanne — the latter of which she called “the highlight of my career” in 1995. Over her lifetime, she amassed more than 150 film and television credits.
Though best known for her motherly screen roles, Lockhart described herself as far more adventurous. “I love rock ’n’ roll, I’ve driven tanks, flown in hot-air balloons, and even glided in planes without engines,” she said in 1994. She also revealed she was an avid fan of Ren & Stimpy, even doing a voiceover for the show.
In 1960, she received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — one for film and one for television. A lifelong advocate for space exploration, Lockhart worked with NASA for decades and was awarded the agency’s Exceptional Public Achievement Medal in 2014, becoming the only actress to receive the honor.
Her fascination with politics began after meeting President Harry Truman in 1948. “I asked him what it was like in the Oval Office,” she once recalled. “He said, ‘It’s just like being in jail.’” Eisenhower’s press secretary, Jim Hagerty, later granted her a lifetime press pass, allowing her to attend briefings for nearly five decades.
Lockhart married Dr. John F. Maloney in 1951, and the couple had two daughters, Anne and June Elizabeth, before divorcing in 1959.
