June Lockhart — America's Favorite Space Mom — Still Stunning As She Turns 95

Jun 26, 2020 by apost team

Known best for her role as Dr. Maureen Robinson in the 1960s science fiction television show Lost In Space, June Lockhart has had quite an acting career that spans decades. Lockhart turns 95 today, and yet she remains — and will always be — America’s favorite space mom. To celebrate alongside Lockhart, we’ll take a look back on her nearly eight-decade career as one of Hollywood’s finest actresses.

Ever since the age of eight, Lockhart has been acting, Fandango reports. Her first appearance in a feature film, however, was in 1938 at the age of 12 for Edwin L. Marin’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Of course, it helped that both of Lockhart’s parents — Gene and Kathleen Lockhart — were actors in their own right. But it’s undeniable that Lockhart caught the acting bug at a young age regardless of her famous parents.

Lockhart is best known for her motherly roles on the television show Lassie, which followed the adventures of a dog named Lassie, the Martin family, and their life in rural America. From 1958 to 1964, Lockhart played the family’s mother, Ruth Martin. Lockhart’s performance was so good that she was even nominated for an Emmy in 1959 for Best Actress in a Leading Role. That undoubtedly helped launch Lockhart’s career in the right direction. Just a couple years later, Lockhart landed another role as a mother — this time in Lost In Space as the Robinson family’s matriarch, Maureen.

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For those unfamiliar with the show, Lost In Space was quite a big deal in the 1960s given that it was a long-running science fiction series that relied on complex set designs and special effects. The show centers around the Robinsons, a family of space colonists, who leave earth in the year 1997 due to overpopulation, as IMDB summarizes it.

But it turns out that Lockhart’s motherly instincts weren’t just for show. In an interview with the Archive of American Television, Lockhart’s TV son Bill Mumy opened up about how the actress really helped nurture and teach the kids both on and off the set.

"She kept our minds occupied, which was a gift,” Mumy told reporters. “She didn’t have to do that. She didn’t have to spend one second paying attention to me and Angela Cartwright [who plays Lockhart’s daughter]. Every time they said cut, she could have easily gone to her trailer. Nobody would’ve thought that was weird [...S]he spent a lot of time nurturing Angela’s and my developing thought processes. Teaching us.”

And while Lockhart, who turns 95 today, seems to have eased into retirement as of her last role in 2016, her legacy as an incredible actress, nurturing co-star, and inspiring public figure will continue on for decades to come. The actress even received the Exceptional Public Achievement Medal from NASA, which the agency awarded her for inspiring generations of space enthusiasts.

“I have so many friends among the astronaut group saying that watching ‘Lost in Space’ when they were little boys made them know what they wanted to do,” Lockhart told Santa Monica Daily Press in 2013. “It’s astonishing that it inspired so many people, but it’s lovely to know that.”

Happy birthday, June Lockhart! What's your favorite June Lockhart role? Let us know and wish June a happy birthday by passing this story on to family members and friends.