June Lockhart
{{Short description|American actress (born 1925)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = June Lockhart
| image = June Lockhart 1947.JPG
| imagesize =
| caption = Lockhart in 1947
| birthname =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1925|06|25|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| education = Westlake School for Girls
| known_for = {{hlist|Meet Me in St. Louis|Lassie|Lost in Space|Petticoat Junction|A Christmas Carol|Sergeant York}}
| othername =
| occupation = Actress
| yearsactive = 1933–2021
| spouse = {{ubl |
{{marriage|John F. Maloney|1951|1959|end=div}} |
{{marriage|John Lindsay|1959|1970|end=div}}
}}
| father = Gene Lockhart
| mother = Kathleen Lockhart
| children = 2, including Anne Lockhart
| awards = Special Tony Award
}}
June Lockhart (born June 25, 1925) is an American retired actress, beginning a film career in the 1930s and 1940s in such films as A Christmas Carol and Meet Me in St. Louis. She appeared primarily in 1950s and 1960s television and with performances on stage and in film. On two television series, Lassie and Lost in Space, she played mother roles. Lockhart also portrayed Dr. Janet Craig on the CBS television sitcom Petticoat Junction (1968–70). She is a two-time Emmy Award nominee{{cite web |title=Best Actress Nominees / Winners 1953 |url=https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/1953/best-actress |website=Television Academy |access-date=March 6, 2023 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series Nominees / Winners 1959 |url=https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/1959/outstanding-lead-actress-in-a-drama-series |website=Television Academy |access-date=March 6, 2023 |language=en}} and a Tony Award winner. With a career spanning nearly 90 years, Lockhart is one of the last surviving actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Early life
File:June lockhart.JPG (1945)]]
File:June Lockhart Lassie National Dog Week 1963.JPG (1963)]]
June Lockhart was born on June 25, 1925, in New York City, New York. She is the daughter of Canadian-American actor Gene Lockhart, who came to prominence on Broadway in 1933 in Ah, Wilderness!, and English-born actress Kathleen Lockhart (née Arthur).{{cite magazine| date=November 24, 1947| title=A Star Is Born| magazine=Life| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1UgEAAAAMBAJ&q=lockhart| pages=59| issn=0024-3019}} Her grandfather was John Coates Lockhart, "a concert-singer".{{cite news| last1=Maays|first1=Stan|title=June Lockhart Jr. To Make TV Debut| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3310362/abilene_reporternews/| newspaper=Abilene Reporter-News| date=February 15, 1970| page=5E| via=Newspapers.com| access-date=March 13, 2020}} {{Open access}}
Lockhart attended the Westlake School for Girls in Beverly Hills, California.
Film
Lockhart made her film debut opposite her parents in a film version of A Christmas Carol in 1938.{{cite journal| url=http://losangeles.broadwayworld.com/article/Photo_Flash_Legendary_Leading_Ladies_Donate_to_National_Museum_of_American_History_20080201| title=Photo Flash: Legendary Leading Ladies Donate to National Museum of American History| date=February 1, 2008| journal=BroadwayWorld| access-date=March 13, 2020}} She also played supporting parts in Meet Me in St. Louis; Sergeant York; All This, and Heaven Too; and The Yearling. She played a key role in Son of Lassie (1945), a concept that she revisited at length during the television series Lassie more than a dozen years later. She was the top-billed star of She-Wolf of London (1946).
Stage
Lockhart debuted on stage at the age of 8, playing Mimsey in Peter Ibbetson, presented by the Metropolitan Opera.{{cite news| last1=Boyle| first1=Hal| title=Gene Lockhart Versatile Man| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19590313&id=4SIsAAAAIBAJ&pg=4388,1536080&hl=en| access-date=November 30, 2015| newspaper=Florence Times| date=March 13, 1959| page=5}} In 1947, her acting in For Love or Money brought her out of her parents' shadow and gained her notice as "a promising movie actress in her own right." One newspaper article began, "June Lockhart has burst on Broadway with the suddenness of an unpredicted comet."{{cite news| last1=Meegan| first1=Jean| title=Winsome June Lockhart Draws Broadway 'Raves'| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3303869/the_corpus_christi_callertimes/| newspaper=Corpus Christi Caller-Times| date=November 23, 1947| page=3B| via=Newspapers.com| access-date=September 26, 2015}}{{Open access}}
In 1951, Lockhart starred in Lawrence Riley's biographical play Kin Hubbard opposite Tom Ewell.
Television
In 1955, Lockhart appeared in an episode of CBS' Appointment with Adventure. About this time, she also made several appearances on NBC's legal drama Justice, based on case files of the Legal Aid Society of New York. In the late 1950s, Lockhart guest-starred in several popular television Westerns, including Wagon Train (in the episode "The Ricky and Laura Bell Story") and Cimarron City (in the episode "Medicine Man" with Gary Merrill) on NBC, Gunsmoke, Have Gun – Will Travel, and Rawhide on CBS.
In 1958, Lockhart 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.
File:June Lockhart Lost in Space 1965.JPG from 1965 to 1968.]]
File:June Lockhart (handprints in cement).jpg at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.]]
Lockhart is also famous 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 1950s CBS series Lassie (a role that she played from 1958 to 1964). She replaced actress Cloris Leachman, who in turn had replaced Jan Clayton – who had played a similar character earlier in the series. Following her five-year run on Lassie, Lockhart made a guest appearance on Perry Mason as defendant Mona Stanton Harvey in "The Case of the Scandalous Sculptor". Lockhart then starred as Dr. Maureen Robinson in Lost in Space, which ran from 1965 to 1968 on CBS, opposite veteran actors Guy Williams and Jonathan Harris.
In 1965, Lockhart played librarian Ina Coolbrith, first poet laureate of California, in the episode "Magic Locket" of the syndicated Western series Death Valley Days. She then appeared as Dr. Janet Craig on the final two seasons of the CBS sitcom Petticoat Junction (1968–1970); her character was brought in to fill the void created after Bea Benaderet died during the run of the show. Lockhart was a regular in the ABC soap opera General Hospital during the 1980s and 1990s, and was also a voice actress, providing the voice of Martha Day, the lead character in the Hanna-Barbera animated series These Are the Days on ABC during the 1970s.
Lockhart appeared as a hostess on the Miss USA Pageant on CBS for six years, the Miss Universe Pageant on CBS for six years, the Tournament of Roses Parade on CBS for eight years, and the Thanksgiving Parade on CBS for five years.
In 1986, Lockhart appeared in the fantasy film Troll. The younger version of her character in that film was played by her daughter, Anne Lockhart. They had previously played the same woman at two different ages in the "Lest We Forget" episode of the television series Magnum, P.I. (1981). 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 in which she had starred 30 years earlier. In 2002, she appeared in two episodes of The Drew Carey Show as Lewis' mother, Misty Kiniski, alongside fellow TV mom Marion Ross, who played Drew's mother.
In 2004, Lockhart 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 and has since guest-starred in episodes of Cold Case and Grey's Anatomy, in the 2007 ABC Family television film Holiday in Handcuffs, and in the 2007 feature film Wesley as Susanna Wesley, mother of the founder of Methodism, John Wesley.
In May 2014, Lockhart began filming for Tesla Effect, a video game that combines live-action footage with three-dimensional graphics.
Recognition
In 1948, Lockhart received a Special Tony Award for Outstanding Performance by a Newcomer (a category that no longer exists) for her role on Broadway in For Love or Money.{{cite web| title=Search Results: June Lockhart| url=http://www.tonyawards.com/p/tonys_search| website=Tony Awards| access-date=September 27, 2015| archive-date=July 25, 2017| archive-url=https://archive.today/20170725020008/http://www.tonyawards.com/p/tonys_search| url-status=dead}} Lockhart donated her Tony Award to the Smithsonian Institution in 2008 for display in the museum's permanent entertainment archives.{{Citation needed |date=March 2024}}
Lockhart was nominated for 2 Emmy awards. In 1953, she was nominated for Best Actress. In 1959, she was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series for her role in Lassie.
Lockhart has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures (6323 Hollywood Boulevard) and one for television (6362 Hollywood Boulevard). Both were dedicated on February 8, 1960.{{cite web| title=June Lockhart| url=http://www.walkoffame.com/june-lockhart| website=Hollywood Walk of Fame| access-date=September 27, 2015}} In 2013, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration awarded her the Exceptional Public Achievement Medal for inspiring the public about space exploration.{{Citation needed |date=March 2024}}
Personal life
In 1951, Lockhart married John F. Maloney. They had two daughters, Anne Kathleen and June Elizabeth. The couple divorced in 1959.{{cite journal| last=Gingrich| first=Arnold | year=1959|title=Lockhart and Her Lassie| journal=Coronet| volume=45| page=14}} She married architect John Lindsay that same year, but they divorced in October 1970 and she has not remarried. A Roman Catholic, Lockhart, along with her daughter Anne and actress Kay Lenz, met Pope John Paul II in 1985.{{cite web |last=Stagnaro |first=Angelo |date=February 26, 2017 |title=Where the Stars Go to Pray: The Churches of Hollywood |url=http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/where-the-stars-go-to-pray-the-churches-of-hollywood |newspaper=National Catholic Register}}{{cite web|url=https://www.mpacorn.com/articles/locals-reflect-on-the-life-of-pope-john-paul-ii/|title=Locals reflect on the life of Pope John Paul II|last=Belmond|first=Sylvie|date=April 7, 2005|website=Moorpark Acorn|access-date=September 12, 2021}}7{{cite web|url=https://guideposts.org/prayer/how-to-pray/guideposts-classics-june-lockhart-where-to-pray/|title=Guideposts Classics: June Lockhart on Where She Prays|date=October 30, 2014 }}
Lockhart has had a lifelong fascination with American presidential candidates and the media's coverage of them. Her reporter friend Merriman Smith arranged for her to travel with both major-party candidates in the 1956 presidential election, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson. She again traveled with both campaigns in the 1960 election. In 1957, she obtained a lifetime White House press pass and attended many presidential briefings until 2004.{{Cite web |last=Sanderson |first=Bill |date=August 7, 2016 |title=June Lockhart was America's greatest presidential groupie |url=https://nypost.com/2016/08/07/june-lockhart-was-americas-greatest-presidential-groupie/ |access-date=August 23, 2023 |language=en-US}}
Although a child of the Greatest Generation, Lockhart embraced rock music and spontaneously listened to music produced by emerging rock bands. In numerous interviews, her Lost in Space co-star Bill Mumy stated that she took him and Angela Cartwright to concerts at the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood. She is a noted David Bowie fan, and frequently kept a picture of him in her wallet.{{cite web | url=https://www.metv.com/stories/june-lockhart-kept-one-picture-in-her-wallet-and-youll-never-guess-whose-it-was | title=June Lockhart kept one picture in her wallet and you'll never guess who it was }} Appearing together on The Virginia Graham Show in 1970, Lockhart along with actor Art Metrano and LGBT cleric Troy Perry confronted Graham about her moralizing tone toward homosexuals.{{cite web|title=Clips: 1970, June Lockhart gently challenges homophobia on THE VIRGINIA GRAHAM SHOW w/Rev Troy Perry| website=YouTube | date=June 25, 2023 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm2q-F6FdoY}}
Filmography
=Films=
class="wikitable" |
Year
! Film ! Role ! Notes |
---|
1938
| Belinda Cratchit | |
1940
| Isabelle | |
rowspan=2|1941
| Vance | |
Sergeant York
| Rosie York | |
1942
| Stella Bainbridge | |
1943
| Girl in Air Raid Shelter | Alternate title: The Changing World |
rowspan=2|1944
| Lucille Ballard | |
The White Cliffs of Dover
| Betsy Kenney at Age 18 | uncredited |
rowspan=2|1945
| Sarah Swanson | |
Son of Lassie
| Priscilla | |
1946
| Phyllis Allenby | |
rowspan=3|1947
| Barbara Carlin | |
It's a Joke, Son!
| Marylou Claghorn | |
T-Men
| Mary Genaro | |
1957
|Mrs. Cargill | |
1981
| Mother | Voice, English version |
rowspan=3| 1982
| Mrs. Helen Gillespie | |
Deadly Games
| Marge Lawrence | |
Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
| Aladdin's Mother | Voice, English version |
1983
| Mrs. Bigelow | |
1986
| Troll | Eunice St. Clair | |
1988
| Archie's Mother | |
rowspan=2|1989
| C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D. | Gracie | |
The Big Picture
|Janet Kingsley | |
1991
|Dead Women in Lingerie | Ma | |
rowspan=2|1994
| Caroline | |
Tis the Season
| Mrs. Livingston | |
1998
| Principal Cartwright | |
1999
| Secretary of State Clift | |
2000
| The Thundering 8th | Margaret Howard | |
2001
| Bingo Player | Uncredited |
rowspan=2|2009
| Wesley | |
Super Capers
| Mother | |
2012
|Zombie Hamlet |Hester Beauchamps | |
2016
| The Remake |Irene O'Connor | |
2019
| Bongee Bear and the Kingdom of Rhythm |Mindy the Owl | |
=Television=
class="wikitable" |
Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
---|
1949
| Amy March | 1 episode |
1952
| Episode: Mistress of the White House |
1956
| Eve Patrick | 1 episode |
rowspan=3|1957
| Julie Baggs | 1 episode |
The Kaiser Aluminum Hour
| Verna | 1 episode |
Have Gun – Will Travel
| Dr. Phyllis Thackeray | 2 episodes |
rowspan="5" |1958
| Beauty's Sister | 1 episode |
Wagon Train
| Sarah Drummond | 1 episode |
Matinee Theater
| Connie | 1 episode |
Gunsmoke
| Beulah | 1 episode |
Playhouse 90
| Narrator | 1 episode |
1958–1964
| Lassie | Ruth Martin | 200 episodes |
rowspan=2|1959
| Rawhide | Rainy Dawson | 1 episode |
General Electric Theater
| Vera | 1 episode |
1960
| Laura Bell | 1 episode |
rowspan=4|1964
| Mona Stanton Harvey | 1 episode |
Bewitched
| Mrs. Burns | 1 episode |
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
| Dr. Ellen Bryce | 1 episode |
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
| Sarah Taub | 1 episode |
rowspan=4|1965
| Branded | Mrs. Sue Pritchett | 1 episode |
The Magic Locket
| Miss Ina Coolbrith | Episode 44 |
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
| Martha Hunter | Episode: "The Second Wife" |
Mr. Novak
| Mrs. Nelby | Episode: "Once a Clown" |
1965–1968
| Maureen Robinson | 84 episodes |
1968–1970
| Dr. Janet Craig | 45 episodes |
1968
| Miss Evans | 3 episodes |
1971
| Ellen Lewis | 1 episode |
rowspan=2|1974
| Lila | 1 episode |
Adam-12
| Mrs. Whitney | Episodes: "Camp" Part 1 & 2 |
rowspan=2|1975
| Claudia Wentworth | 1 episode |
New Zoo Revue
| Penelope Potter | 1 episode |
rowspan=2| 1976
| Judge McKay | 1 episode |
Quincy, M.E.
| Clara Rhoades | 1 episode |
1978
| The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries | Mrs. Migley | 1 episode |
rowspan=3|1981
| Vega$ | Dr. Michaels | 1 episode |
Magnum, P.I.
| Diane Westmore Pauley | 1 episode |
Darkroom
| Margo Haskell | 1 episode |
rowspan=2| 1982
| Mara Wingate | 1 episode |
Knots Landing
| Hilda Grant | 1 episode |
1981
| Alice Davidson | 2 episodes |
rowspan=2|1984
| Mrs. Butterfield | 1 episode |
The Night They Saved Christmas
| Mrs. Claus | 1 episode |
1985
| Beryl Hayward | 1 episode |
1985; 1992; 1993
| Mariah Ramirez | 14 episodes |
rowspan=3|1986
| Dr. Sylvia Heywood | 2 episodes |
Hotel
| Betty Archer | 1 episode |
Amazing Stories
| Mildred | 1 episode |
1987
| Aunt Millie | 1 episode |
1989
| Mrs. Chadwick | 1 episode |
1991
| Miss Wiltrout | 2 episodes |
1992
| Kate | TV movie |
1993
| John's mother | 1 episode |
rowspan=4|1994
| Bev – Barb's Mom | 1 episode |
Babylon 5
| Dr. Laura Rosen | 1 episode |
'Tis The Season: A Hawaiian Christmas Story
| Mrs. Livingston |Television film |
The Ren & Stimpy Show
| Dr. Brainchild's Mother | 1 episode |
rowspan=5|1995
| Herself | 1 episode |
The Colony
| Mrs. Billingsley | Television film |
Duckman
| Oppressed Wife | 1 episode |
Roseanne
| Leon's mother | 1 episode |
Out There
| Donna | Television film |
1996
| Helen Lambert | 3 episodes |
rowspan=2|1997
| Veterinarian | 1 episode |
Beverly Hills, 90210
| Celia Martin | 4 episodes |
2001
| Grandma Nell Grayson | Television film |
2002
| Misty Kiniski | 2 episodes |
2003
| Andy Richter Controls the Universe | Grandma Evelyn | 1 episode |
2004
| Grammy Na-Na | 2 episodes |
2004
| Grandma Deline | 1 episode |
2006
| Agnes | 1 episode |
2006
| Muriel Bartleby | 1 episode |
2007
| Grandma | Television film |
2021
| June, aka the Voice of Alpha Control | 1 episode; Netflix series |
References
{{reflist|2}}
Further reading
- {{cite book |title=Raised by the Stars: Interviews with 29 Children of Hollywood Actors |last=Thomas |first=Nick |year=2011 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-6403-6}} (Includes an interview with June Lockhart)
External links
{{Commons category}}
{{wikiquote}}
- {{AFI person | 91454-June-Lockhart }}
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{IMDb name|0001478}}
- {{Tcmdb name}}
{{Special Tony Award}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lockhart, June}}
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:20th-century Roman Catholics
Category:21st-century American actresses
Category:21st-century Roman Catholics
Category:Actresses from New York City
Category:American anti–Vietnam War activists
Category:American child actresses
Category:American film actresses
Category:American people of Canadian descent
Category:American people of English descent
Category:American Roman Catholics
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:Catholics from New York (state)
Category:Donaldson Award winners
Category:Harvard-Westlake School alumni