"Lockhart died Thursday of natural causes at her home in Santa Monica, family spokesman Lyle Gregory, a friend of 40 years, 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. The daughter of prolific character actor Gene Lockhart, Lockhart was cast frequently in ingenue roles as a young film actor."
"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."
"From 1958 to 1964, she portrayed Ruth Martin, who raised the orphaned Timmy (Jon Provost), in the popular CBS series Lassie. From 1965 to 1968, she traveled aboard the spaceship Jupiter II as mother to the Robinson family in the campy CBS adventure Lost in Space. Her portrayals of warm, compassionate mothers endeared her to young viewers, and decades later, baby boomers flocked to nostalgia conventions to meet Lockhart and buy her autographed photos."
June Lockhart died at age 100 of natural causes at her Santa Monica home and remained engaged with daily news until the end. She was the daughter of character actor Gene Lockhart and began her career in numerous films, including Son of Lassie and Meet Me in St. Louis. Television revitalized her career: she played Ruth Martin on Lassie (1958–1964) and the mother on Lost in Space (1965–1968). Her warm, compassionate portrayals endeared her to young viewers and later to nostalgia-seeking baby boomers. Offscreen, she pursued adventurous activities that contrasted with her on-screen image.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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