June Lockhart, NASA Honoree Celebrated by JPL, Dies at 100

June Lockhart, the beloved actress whose career spanned Hollywood’s Golden Age and iconic television roles, died Thursday in Santa Monica at age 100. Her legacy includes a deep connection to Pasadena, where NASA honored her contributions to space advocacy with a public achievement medal at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 2013.

Lockhart died of natural causes with her daughter June Elizabeth and granddaughter Christianna at her side, according to a statement released Saturday by her publicist, B. Harlan Boll.

Best known to television audiences as the nurturing mother on “Lassie,” the spacefaring Maureen Robinson in “Lost in Space,” and Dr. Janet Craig in “Petticoat Junction,” Lockhart also appeared in classic films including MGM’s 1938 adaptation of “A Christmas Carol,” “Meet Me in St. Louis,” and “Sergeant York.”

Born in New York in 1923 to actors Gene and Kathleen Lockhart, she made her stage debut at age 8 and entered film at 13, sharing the screen with her parents in “A Christmas Carol.” Her early career included roles alongside Bette Davis and Charles Boyer in “All This and Heaven Too,” and Judy Garland in “Meet Me in St. Louis.”

Lockhart won a Tony Award for her 1947 Broadway debut in “For Love or Money,” and later voiced characters in animated series including Nickelodeon’s “Ren & Stimpy.”

Her admiration for science and space exploration led to decades of involvement with NASA, including appearances at launches and milestone events. In 2009, she joined astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin at the 40th anniversary celebration of the moon landing in Washington, D.C.

“Mommy always considered acting as her craft, her vocation, but her true passions were journalism, politics, science and NASA,” her daughter said in a statement. “She was delighted to know that she inspired many future astronauts.”

NASA recognized Lockhart’s influence with the Exceptional Public Achievement Medal at JPL in Pasadena, an honor reserved for non-government individuals who make significant public contributions to the agency’s mission.

Lockhart’s eclectic interests extended well beyond the screen, including a fondness for antique machinery. Among her more unusual hobbies was a vintage fire engine—a 1923 Seagrave pumper affectionately named “Cordelia Delilah Lindsay.” The vehicle, a gift from her second husband, John C. Lindsay, was acquired after Lockhart learned CBS planned to sell it and expressed a desire to own it.

The fire engine boasted 24 cylinders and a fuel efficiency of just two miles per gallon. Power steering was added so Lockhart could drive it herself, which she did regularly, commuting to the studio each morning behind the wheel of the massive red pumper. To accommodate the vehicle, she was granted the largest parking space on the 20th Century Fox lot during the “Lost in Space” era.

Lockhart’s interest in fire engines spurred her relationship with the Pasadena Fire Department.

The fire engine was emblematic of Lockhart’s adventurous spirit, but it was far from a singular passion. She maintained a wide array of hobbies and once described acting itself as merely one among many. The fire engine, like her career, was part of a life defined by curiosity, flair and a refusal to be confined by convention.

Lockhart also championed animal welfare, supporting the Santa Monica Mounted Police Horses and serving as national spokesperson for International Hearing Dog Inc.

Her father, Gene Lockhart, was a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild. June followed in his footsteps, becoming active in AFTRA and SAG and receiving The Founders Award in 2018.

A private service is planned. The family requests donations in her memory to The Actors Fund, ProPublica, or International Hearing Dog Inc.