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June Lockhart: Lifetime Achievement Award

Lake Arrowhead Film Festival

By Michael P. Neufeld
Friday, April 11, 2008

Lake Arrowhead, CA – Tonight at the Lake Arrowhead Film Festival, June Lockhart will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award not far from where she grew up and where she filmed several movies during her distinguished career.

Lockhart, who will be honored along with several other individuals at the Gala Awards Dinner at the Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa, tells many stories about her days growing up in Lake Arrowhead.

I've had the pleasure of visiting with Miss Lockhart numerous times over the past several years and always enjoy her recollections about her life as a Lake Arrowhead resident with her parents Gene and Kathleen Lockhart! She sparkles when she tells how Thomas Edison actually introduced her parents.

Actress June Lockhart will be honred during the Lake Arrowhead Film Festival that runs April 10-13 at the Lake Arrowhead Resort & Spa. I've had the pleasure of knowing Miss Lockhart for several years and we posed for this picture a couple of years ago at the Film Festival. (Photo by Susan Neufeld.)

Actor Timothy Bottoms will present tonight's Lifetime Achievement Award to the frequent visitor to Lake Arrowhead and an Emeritus member of the Lake Arrowhead Film Festival's Advisory Board.

What most people don't know about Miss Lockhart is that there are actually five (5) stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame bearing the name Lockhart. Two are for her accomplishments on the silver screen and television and the balance are for her father Gene Lockhart and her mother, Kathleen.

One of Miss Lockhart's stars is at 6323 Hollywood Boulevard and is located next to Humphrey Bogart and a short distance from one of her former co-stars, Lassie. Also located in the block between Vine Street and Cahuenga Boulevard are Ronald Reagan, Elizabeth Taylor, Kevin Costner, Grace Kelly and Jack Lemon.

Tonight, the Lake Arrowhead Film Festival will also honor stars from the world of film and television, including award-winning actors Beau Bridges and Joe Mantegna, as well as six-time Academy Award nominee William A. Fraker, ASC, four-time Emmy Award winning director Joe Sargent, and 70's low-budget film icon, director Jack Hill.

Miss Lockhart, a third generation performer, made her debut at the age of eight at the Metropolitan Opera House in Peter Ibbetson. At twelve she appeared as Belinda Cratchet in the film of Dickens' A Christmas Carol which also starred her parents. Now a classic, this film is shown annually on TV at Christmas time.

She appeared in significant roles in such famous films as All This and Heaven Too, Sergeant York, Adam Had Four Sons, The White Cliffs of Dover, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Yearling, and Son of Lassie. On Broadway, Miss Lockhart debuted in F. Hugh Hebert's For Love or Money, and, for her performance, she won the Donaldson Award, the Theater World Award, was named Woman of the Year in Drama by the Associated Press and received a Tony Award for Best Debut Performance.

Since then, Miss Lockhart has starred in many comedy and dramatic TV series, movies for television and specials. Lassie, in which she starred for six years won her an Emmy nomination. It was followed by three years in Lost in Space and two in Petticoat Junction. Since 1984, June has appeared intermittently as Maria, Felicia's grandmother on General Hospital.

Since its inception, Miss Lockhart has played an important role in the development of the Lake Arrowhead Film Festival. Now an Advisory Board Member, Emeritus, Miss Lockhart has been a tireless supporter of the festival and has often served as hostess and emcee of our Gala Awards Dinner.

Each year, The Festival's Board of Directors recognizes Special Achievement in the Art of Filmmaking with the June Lockhart Award.

Tonight is a golden opportunity to salute Lake Arrowhead's own JUNE LOCKHART!

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