June Lockhart, one of television’s most beloved matriarchs, has died at the age of 100. According to her family, Lockhart passed away peacefully at her home in Santa Monica, California, on October 23, 2025, surrounded by her daughter June Elizabeth and granddaughter Christianna.
The Tony Award–winning actress was best known for her roles as Ruth Martin in Lassie and Maureen Robinson in Lost in Space, which made her a timeless symbol of warmth, wit, and grace. Following the news, tributes poured in from her former co-stars. Angela Cartwright, who played her daughter Penny on Lost in Space, wrote, “So smart, quick, and funny — she filled her 100 years with curiosity, laughter, and rock ’n’ roll.” Meanwhile, Lassie actor Jon Provost remembered her as “another movie and television icon,” adding in his statement, “June kept in touch all these years after Lassie. Love you, June — I’ll miss you a bunch.”
Learn more about her below.
Born in New York City on June 25, 1925, to actor-parents Gene Lockhart and Kathleen Lockhart, she stepped on stage at age 8 in a production of Peter Ibbetson at the Metropolitan Opera. Only a few years later, she made her film debut in A Christmas Carol (1938), acting alongside her parents.
“I thought my parents were wonderful as the Cratchits, and it was just great fun to see how a film was made,” Lockhart said to the Ames Tribune in 2014. “I loved the Victorian costumes.”
Lockhart joined Lassie in 1958, portraying Ruth Martin—the kind, dependable mother of Timmy Martin—for six years.
Lockhart won a Tony Award in 1948 for Outstanding Performance by a Newcomer for her role in For Love or Money.
