Obituary June Lockhart, ‘Lassie’ and ‘Lost in Space’ Actress, Dead at 100 The Tony Award-winning star’s career spanned eight decades, and included roles in Petticoat Junction, Happy Days, and Grey’s Anatomy Lassie and June Lockhart in an undated photograph. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images June Lockhart, beloved for her roles as a mother in Lassie and in Lost in Space, died on Oct. 23 at her Santa Monica, California home of natural causes. She was 100. Harlon Ball, Lockhart’s spokesman, confirmed her death to The New York Times . Lockhart made an indelible mark playing Ruth Martin, the foster mother of John Provost’s character, Timmy, and his collie Lassie, on the series Lassie beginning in 1958. She took over the role from Cloris Leachman in the show’s fifth season, and she remained on the show through 1964. She went on to star as Dr. Maureen Robinson — a biochemist, wife, and mother — in the sci-fi adventure television series, Lost in Space. She appeared in all three seasons of its run, from 1965 through 1968, alongside her family of space castaways, which included a robot who warned “Danger, Will Robinson” to her character’s precocious son (Bill Mumy) whenever a threat was perceived. In 2024, Lockhart revealed that playing Robinson was her favorite role. “It was so campy,” she told Closer Weekly . “And I truly enjoyed my relationship with my space family.” She went on to join Petticoat Junction in its sixth season in 1968, where she portrayed Janet Craig and continued the role until the series ended in 1970. While she became widely known for her roles in the Sixties, she had already won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Newcomer (the category no longer exists) for her Broadway debut in For Love or Money in 1948 when she was 22 years old. She made her big screen debut even earlier, at age 13, when she appeared in an uncredited role in the 1938 version of A Christmas Carol, alongside her actor parents Gene Lockhart and Kathleen Lockhart. Trending Stories Source: https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/june-lockhart-lassie-lost-in-space-actress-dead-obituary-1235454419/