Who Was John Maloney? All about June Lockhart’s first husband as she dies at 100

In 1951, June Lockhart married Dr. John F. Maloney when she was already a familiar figure to television and film audience members.

They would have two daughters together and begin her transition as a television star. Although their union failed to continue for over eight years, it was a crucial page in her life.

John F. Maloney and June Lockhart's Marriage

John F. Maloney was a physician whose marriage to June Lockhart was consummated in January 1951. They had two daughters, Anne Kathleen (in 1953) and June Elizabeth (in 1956), from the union. They didn't stay married and divorced in 1959. Aside from the public record of dates and children, little is available in widely held records about Maloney's life before the divorce, work, or life subsequent to the divorce. The focus in biographies and news accounts remains firmly on Lockhart's version of events.

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The timing of their marriage is coincidental with a frenetic period in Lockhart's professional life. Early in the 1950s she was carrying on work on the stage and screen, and later in the 1950s she would be transitioning fully to television character roles that would prove to be her legacy. Their marriage thus coincides with a significant professional transition for her. Even though there is no publicly recorded information on the reasons for the divorce, the eight-year marriage came to an end as Lockhart took on the "mother figure" roles that would make her a household name.

In short, Dr. John F. Maloney was a significant but mostly offstage presence in June Lockhart's life. He was her first husband, the father of her daughters, but otherwise his presence is small in the public record. For Lockhart, the marriage coincided with a career-defining moment, and although it ended in divorce by 1959, the period remains part of her personal history. His own history is poorly documented, but it blends with a major part of her narrative and the story of a woman whose working life was to make a profound impact on television.

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