I took this photograph of June Lockhart in 2001 — nearly a quarter century ago. The actress and several of her colleagues from the sci-fi series Lost in Space (1965-68) gathered at a Television Critics Association press tour that summer at what was then the Ritz Carlton Hunnington Hotel in Pasadena, Calif.
If you were a child in the ’60s this is one of those shows you nerded over the next morning over a bowl of Honeycomb, Sugar Pops or Captain Crunch cereal. The robot alone would have pulled many TCA members — weened on this and other gimmicky Irwin Allen shows such as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Time Tunnel –into the room.
What a delight, however, to speak with June Lockhart, who was also beloved as Lassie’s “mom” back into the late 1950s. Bright and fun, she was a sunny presence at 75. The daughter of Canadian-American actor Gene Lockhart, June passed away October 23 in Santa Monica. She was 100 years old.
Lockhart was joined by the other surviving cast members — Mark Goddard, Marta Kristen, Billy Mumy, Angela Cartwright and even cantankerous, rambling Jonathan Harris, who, as reporters quickly witnessed, hardly had to act to play saboteur Dr. Zachary Smith.
One actor was missing that day. The Captain of the Jupiter 2 specacraft, John Robinson, was played by Guy Williams. Dashing as TV’s Zorro in the ’50s, Williams died at 65 in 1989.
Williams and Lockhart graced one of the TV Guide covers shot by my friend, the late, great Gene Trindl. Gene, who loved to capture the essence of these shows with his shots, manged to convince Williams and Lockhart to let him string them up with wires to make the foil-suited Lost in Space stars look like they were floating in air. After six or seven shots, Williams’ wires snapped and he fell back to earth. Photo session over.
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Goddard, who passed away in 2023 at 87, was the one who snapped at the 2001 press session. Just like in the old days, Harris was getting on his nerves. The fussy New York actor rambled on about himself, setting an unofficial filibuster record of 17 minutes according to long-time TCA member Howard Benjamin. Just as he had done with the series, Harris, originally booked only for one Lost in Space episode, took over the press conference.
Goddard made it clear that he never truly got over being upstaged by Harris in his 2008 memoir, “To Space and Back.”
Mumy, however, did not seem to mind one bit. He got to play more scenes with Harris and the robot as the series veered into more of a campy, monster-of-the-week direction. If this meant the others were forced to spend more time in their trailers, Lockhart always kept any bitterness to herself.
Bob May, who was the guy inside the robot suit, told me most of the cast stayed friends over the years and often teamed up to sign autographs at various collector shows. “Guy Williams was the class act of our show,” said May. “June Lockhart — I can’t say enough nice things about her.” May passed away in 2009 at 69.
The surviving main cast members are now down to just three: Kristen, 80, Cartwright, 73, and Mumy, 71. Fans of the series can stream Lost in Space nowadays on Tubi but “WARNING!” as the robot would say. Anything past Season One is so campy you can see the tents.
