RIP beloved actress June Lockhart.
She was a rock star among future baby boomers when she played Timmy’s mom on “Lassie” from 1958 to 1964.
Almost immediately she starred as Maureen Robinson, the family matriarch, on “Lost in Space” from 1965 to 1968.
Lockhart’s credits are numerous dating back to the early 1950s and right the 1980s as she appeared in nearly every prime time TV show. At one point she did two seasons on “Petticoat Junction,” replacing the late Bea Benadaret.
In the 80s, Lockhart was a recurring character on the soap “General Hospital” at the height of the soap’s popularity. She had two Emmy nominations in the early 60s, and won a Special Tony Award on Broadway in the late 1940s for most promising new performer.
If June Lockhart wasn’t already America’s mom, she proved it on a 1970 talk show. She confronted host Virginia Graham about homosexuality. If there had been social media then, the clip would be resonating every hour.
About June’s father: Family spokesperson and longtime family friend Lyle Gregory said: “Thomas Edison in the early 1920s hired and introduced two young actors to one another, Gene Lockhart and Kathleen Arthur. They performed sketches written by Edison to promote his latest invention, the phonograph, for eager audiences across the emerging modern North American landscape. Those two young actors fell in love, married, had one child and named her June. Gene Lockhart, June’s father, a prolific, Oscar-nominated character actor with more than 300 film credits, was a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild in the 1930s. Watching his activism to improve the work and safety conditions on set as a young actor, June was made aware of the importance of unions in the industry she loved. Lockhart got involved with AFRA, (which would later become AFTRA) in 1938 and The Screen Actors Guild in 1940. As a nearly lifelong member of the Guild, June was awarded The Founders Award in 2018, a recognition made by her peers that she treasured. What a life! Bravo to June Lockhart. May she rest in peace.
