Updated: August 12, 2024

June Lockhart is an American actress, primarily in 1950s and 1960s TV, but with memorable performances on stage and in film as well. She is remembered as the mother on two TV series, Lassie and Lost in Space. She also portrayed Dr. Janet Craig on the hit CBS television sitcom Petticoat Junction from 1968-1970.

She made her acting debut opposite her parents in A Christmas Carol, in 1938. She also played supporting parts in films including Meet Me in St. Louis, Sergeant York, and The Yearling. In 1946, Lockhart played the title role in She-Wolf of London.

In 1948, Lockhart won a Tony Award for Outstanding Performance by a Newcomer (a category that no longer exists) for her role on Broadway in For Love or Money. And in 1951, she starred in Lawrence Riley's biographical play Kin Hubbard opposite Tom Ewell. In the late 1950s she appeared in several popular television Westerns including: Wagon Train and Cimarron City on NBC and Gunsmoke, Have Gun Will Travel, and Rawhide on CBS.

In 1958, she was the narrator for Playhouse 90 's telecast of the George Balanchine version of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, featuring Balanchine himself as Drosselmeyer, along with the New York City Ballet.

Lockhart is best known for her roles as TV mothers, first as Ruth Martin, the wife of Paul Martin (portrayed by Hugh Reilly), and the mother of Timmy Martin (played by Jon Provost) in the 1954 hit CBS series, Lassie (a role that she played from 1958-64). She replaced actress Cloris Leachman. Lockhart then became Dr. Maureen Robinson, the wife of Professor John Robinson (portrayed by Zorro actor Guy Williams) in the 1965-68 hit series, Lost in Space. The science fiction program on CBS was popular, noted for the design of the sleek silver spacesuits, which Lockhart wore in many publicity photos.

The handprints of June Lockhart in front of Hollywood Hills Amphitheater at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park. Lockhart appeared as Dr. Janet Craig on the CBS sitcom Petticoat Junction, after Bea Benaderet died during the run of the show, and as a regular in the ABC soap opera General Hospital during the 1980s and 1990s. She provided the voice of Martha Day, the lead character in the Hanna-Barbara animated series These Are the Days. Lockhart was the only actor or actress to have starred in three hit series during the 1960s.

In 1986, she appeared in the fantasy film, Troll. The younger version of her character in that movie was played by her daughter, Anne Lockhart. They had previously played the same woman at two different ages in a 1981 episode of the television series Magnum, P.I.. In 1991, Lockhart appeared as Miss Wiltrout, Michelle Tanner's kindergarten teacher on the TV sitcom Full House. She also had a cameo in the 1998 film Lost in Space, based on the television series she had starred in thirty years earlier. In 2002, she appeared in two episodes of The Drew Carey Show as Lewis's mother, Misty Kiniski.

In 2004, she voiced the role of Grandma Emma Fowler in Focus on the Family's The Last Chance Detectives audio cases. Lockhart starred as James Caan's mother in an episode of Las Vegas in 2004. Lockhart has since guest starred on episodes of Cold Case, in the 2007 ABC Family television movie Holiday in Handcuffs, and in the 2007 feature film Wesley.