Jon Lockhart died; TV’s favorite mom in ‘Lassi’ and ‘Lost in Space’

June Lockhart, the perennial TV mom who comforted her son Timmy and his loyal pet Collie on “Handy” and explained the galaxy to her children on the kitschy prime-time sci-fi show “Lost in Space,” has died.

Active in Hollywood into her 90s, Lockhart died of natural causes in Santa Monica on Thursday, with her daughter June Elizabeth Lockhart-Triolo and granddaughter Christina Triolo by her side, said her publicist, B. Harlan Ball.

She was 100.

Smart and cheerful, Lockhart happily accepts to play second fiddle to children, pets and even robots. In “Lassi” he was often seen teaching his son small life lessons gleaned from his misdeeds, often saved from danger by his faithful dog. In “Lost in Space”, she was a biochemist who seemed to spend most of her time in the galley preparing meals or taking care of the children as the “Swiss Family Robinson”-like castle randomly drifted through space.

“Mom was a great run for me,” Lockhart told The Times years after the show went off the air. “I seem to have passed a lot of my colleagues because of it.”

Cast members in costume from the 1965 TV show “Lost in Space.” Standing, from left, are Mark Goddard, Jon Lockhart and Guy Williams.

(AP/CBS)

June Kathleen Lockhart was born on June 25, 1925 in New York City and grew up in an artistic family. Her father was a Broadway actor and her mother was a singer. For years the family staged a seasonal production of “A Christmas Carol” at their home, inviting neighbors, friends and relatives to participate.

In 1938, the family went a step further and filmed a well-polished version of the Charles Dickens classic with a young Lockhart cast as Belinda Cratchit. The entire film was one hour and nine minutes long.

Lockhart attended Westlake School for Girls after the family moved to Los Angeles, where her father hoped to find a career as a film actress. But it was Lockhart who broke Hollywood with modest but recurring roles in hit TV shows like “Wagon Train,” “Gunsmoke” and “Rawhide.”

In 1958, she was cast as Ruth Martin, the patient and good-natured mother in “The Hand,” a role that earned her an Emmy nomination. The show ran for 17 seasons, making it one of the longest-running prime-time shows on television. Lockhart left the series in 1964 to pursue other opportunities.

Lockhart realized that publishing had its limits. “It was a fictional story about people on a farm whose dogs solve all the problems in 22 minutes, just in time for the final commercial,” she told The Times.

The scripts were only slightly more challenging in “Lost in Space,” which chronicled the adventures of a family aboard a saucer-shaped spaceship bound for an Earth-like planet orbiting a distant star. She left the show after three years and joined the cast of “Petticoat Junction” as a medical doctor practicing in a shabby hotel in the middle of nowhere.

Quiz show contestant for the press corps

Earlier in life, Lockhart was a regular on the news quiz show “Who Said It?” In which the contestant was read a quote and asked to guess who said it. Lockhart has been fascinated by journalism and newsmakers since childhood, when she started a neighborhood newspaper. As an adult she subscribed to The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times, reading them cover to cover.

To prepare for the show, she began cutting and memorizing quotes from newspapers. One of the people on the show, a White House correspondent for United Press International, was so impressed with Lockhart’s understanding of politics that he invited him to a White House meeting.

Lockhart became an unofficial member of the White House press corps, attending briefings, traveling with representatives of Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy during the presidential term, and hitting the campaign trail with Ronald Reagan.

Lockhart, pictured in 1965, also became an unofficial White House correspondent.

(CBS via Getty Images)

During her years as an unofficial White House correspondent, she was invited to ask a question only once during a presidential meeting, asking President George W. Bush for the name of the veterinarian who cared for the family’s first dog, Barney. Bush laughed and said it was a big secret.

Although she never had another prime-time role like “The Hand” or “Lost in Space,” her career was remarkably long. She was a kindergarten teacher in “Full House,” James Caan’s mother in “Las Vegas,” a mother again in “The Drew Carey Show,” and a hospital worker in “Grey’s Anatomy.” For years she hosted Flower Parade coverage on CBS.

Her last credit came in 2018, when she voiced a radio communications officer in the “Lost in Space” reboot on Netflix. Twice married and divorced, Lockhart is survived by daughters Lockhart-Triolo and Ann Lockhart, as well as four grandchildren, said longtime family friend Lyle Gregory.

Service will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to The Players Fund, ProPublica and the International Hearing Dog Company.

Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.