June Lockhart, Beloved ‘Lassie’ Mother, Dead at 100

June Lockhart, the farm's favorite on-screen mother Lassie and in the stars with Lost in spacedied on October 23 in California at the age of 100. “Mom always considered acting to be her craft, her calling, but her real passions were journalism, politics, science and NASA,” her daughter June Elizabeth general in a statement for Deadline. “She really loved playing her role in Lost in space and she was glad to know that she inspired many future astronauts, as they reminded her during their visits to NASA. It meant even more to her than the hundreds of television and film roles she's played.” Her long career in Hollywood began in 1938 with her family when she starred in the film A Christmas Carol along with his parents, Gene and Kathleen Lockhart, as the Cratchit family. A few years later she had a small role in the film Son of Lassieforeshadowing her role as the mother in the television series, her performance as matriarch Martin began in 1958 on CBS. This became her first series regular.

Her next big screen role, after many guest appearances, came from E.T. Lost in space — she played Maureen Robinson, a mother of three who crashed with her family on an alien planet while trying to escape Earth. Even though Lockhart has been a pseudo-mother to anyone who owns a border collie, she has always surprised fans with surprises when it comes to her personal interests. “I love rock 'n' roll and going to concerts. I've driven army tanks and flown in hot air balloons,” she said. AP in 1994. “And I glide on an airplane – those who don't have engines. I do a lot of things that don't fit my image.”