June Lockhart, TV’s beloved mom from Lassie, dies at 100

June Lockhart, the beloved actress who became a mother figure for generations—whether tending to Timmy on “Lassie” or guiding the Robinson family through the cosmos in “Lost in Space”—has died at the age of 100.

Lockhart passed Thursday of natural causes at her Santa Monica home, family spokesman and longtime friend Lyle Gregory said Saturday.

“She was very happy up until the very end, reading the New York Times and LA Times every day,” he said. “It was very important to her to stay focused on the news of the day.”

Daughter of prolific character actor Gene Lockhart, June frequently played ingenues in films before television made her a star. From 1958 to 1964, she portrayed Ruth Martin, who raised orphaned Timmy (Jon Provost) on CBS’s Lassie. From 1965 to 1968, she traveled aboard the Jupiter II as mother Maureen Robinson in the campy CBS adventure “Lost in Space.”

Her warm, compassionate portrayals of mothers endeared her to young viewers. Decades later, baby boomers flocked to conventions to meet her and collect autographs. Offscreen, she insisted, she was nothing like the women she played.

“I must quote Dan Rather,” she said in a 1994 interview. “I can control my reputation, but not my image, because my image is how you see me.

“I love rock ‘n’ roll and going to the concerts. I have driven Army tanks and flown in hot air balloons. And I go plane-gliding—the ones with no motors. I do a lot of things that don’t go with my image.”

Lockhart appeared in numerous films early in her career, including All This, and Heaven Too, Adam Had Four Sons, Sergeant York, Miss Annie Rooney, Forever and a Day, and Meet Me in St. Louis. She also starred in Son of Lassie (1945), the sequel to Lassie, Come Home, taking over a role originally played by Elizabeth Taylor.

When her adult film career slowed, Lockhart turned to television, performing in live dramas, game shows, and talk shows. She was the third actress to play Lassie’s female lead on TV, following Jan Clayton and Cloris Leachman, while Jon Provost had replaced original child star Tommy Rettig in 1957.

Lockhart recalled working with her canine co-star: “I worked with four Lassies. There was only one main Lassie at a time. Then there was a dog that did the running, a dog that did the fighting, and a dog that was a stand-in, because only humans can work 14 hours a day without needing a nap.

“Lassie was not especially friendly with anybody. Lassie was wholly concentrated on the trainers.”

After six years in the rural world of “Lassie,” Lockhart blasted off into outer space as Maureen Robinson, offering wisdom, reassurance, and a slice of her “space pie” to the family on their five-year voyage in Lost in Space. Faced with sabotage from the nefarious Dr. Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris) and bizarre planetary dangers, Lockhart’s Mrs. Robinson kept viewers glued to the edge of their seats week after week.

As with “Lassie,” Lockhart adored her time on the show: “It was like going to work at Disneyland every day.”

“So smart, quick, and funny—she filled her 100 years with curiosity, laughter, and rock ’n’ roll,” Angela Cartwright, who played her daughter on Lost in Space, posted on Facebook. “I can only imagine she’s feeling right at home as she steps off this planet and into the stars.”

Bill Mumy, her on-screen son, wrote: “A one of a kind, talented, nurturing, adventurous, and non-compromising Lady. She did it her way. June will always be one of my very favorite moms.”

In 1968, Lockhart joined Petticoat Junction for the rural comedy’s last two seasons, portraying Dr. Janet Craig.

(With puts from The Associated Press)