Person Biography:
Gene Lockhart was born on July 18, 1891, in London, Ontario, Canada, to John Coates Lockhart and Ellen Mary (Delany) Lockhart. His father, a Scottish tenor, joined the 48th Highlanders' Regimental Band, and the family accompanied him to England. Gene began singing in concert and studied at the Brompton Oratory School in London.
After returning to Canada, Gene continued to sing and act, often performing with Beatrice Lillie. His mother encouraged him to pursue a career on Broadway, and at 25, he landed a part in the New York play "The Riviera Girl" in 1917. He wrote for the stage, and his first production was "The Pierrot Players," which toured Canada in 1919 and introduced the popular ballad "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise."
Gene's breakthrough as a dramatic actor came in 1939 with the supporting role of Bud in Lula Vollmer's "Sun Up." He married Kathleen Lockhart (aka Kathleen Arthur),an English actress and musician, in 1924. Their daughter, June Lockhart, was born in 1925 and went on to appear in the TV series "Lassie" and "Lost in Space."
Gene continued to work in theater, radio, and film, writing articles and coaching members of the Junior League in dramatics. He took on the appearance that audiences would come to recognize, with a chubby face and twinkling blue eyes.
