Gene Lockhart
Stage, Radio, Television and Film Actor; Stage Composer and Playwright
(1891-1957)
Birthplace: London, Ontario, Canada
Education: Brompton Oratory School, London, England
Radiography:
1930 Abroad With the Lockharts
1935 Lux Radio Theatre
1936 Tonight In Hollywood
1939 Good News
1939 The Chase and Sanborn Hour
1940 Canadian Red Cross Emergency Appeal
1943 Suspense
1944 Cavalcade Of America
1944 Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre
1945 The Nebbs
1945 Textron Theater
1947 Family Theater
1950 For the Living
1952 Guest Star
1952 The Forty Million
Return To Christmas Island
The Watchman (Audition)
The Gene and Kathleen Lockhart Hollywood Album (Audition)
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Gene Lockhart

An accomplished lyricist as well Gene Lockhart teamed with hometown friend Ernest Seitz to pen The World Is Waiting for The Sunrise

Gene Lockhart in one of his most fondly remembered roles as Bob Cratchit in 1938's A Christmas Carol

Gene Lockhart's rubbery face and expressive smile was a prominent feature in the overwhelming majority of his Film roles.

Actress daughter June Lockhart awakens her father Gene Lockhart to announce the critical acclaim of her debut in For Love or Money Nov. 4 1947
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From the April 1, 1957 edition of the Long Beach Press-Telegram:
Gene Lockhart, 66, Film Veteran, Dies
SANTA MONICA (AP)--Gene Lockhart, a versatile performer who was seen or heard in a half dozen entertainment mediums during his 60-year career, died of a heart seizure Sunday.
The pudgy-faced actor, director, author and composer was perhaps best known for his character roles in the movies. He appeared in more than 300 films.
LOCKHART, 66, had been hospitalized here only Saturday night, after complaining of severe pains. He had not been in apparent bad health and was working on a television show to be presented by the General Electric Theater.
With him at his death were his wife of 33 years, Kathleen, and his actress daughter, June Lockhart.
Lockhart was born in London, Ont., Canada. He began his career with the Kilties Band of Canada when he was 6 years old and played in sketches with Beatrice Lillie at the age of 15.
At various later stages of his career, he was a writer of Broadway shows, a composer, a newspaper columnist and a singer. One of his songs--written with Deems Taylor--was "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise."
He appeared on Broadway in "Death of a Salesman" and "Ah Wilderness" and directed a number of plays, including "The Warrior's Husband" and "Sumurun."
HIS MOTION picture career included roles in "Carousel," "Man in the Gray Flannel Suit," "The House on 92nd Street," "Leave Her to Heaven," "Foxes of Harrow," "Miracle on 34th Street" and "Vanishing American."
He also wrote radio programs and played many television roles.
The obit really doesn't do Gene Lockhart justice. Gene Lockhart was a genuine American treasure. Somewhat underrated, those who knew of Gene Lockhart's multitude of dramatic and artistic talents were primarily from the Stage themselves. From the age of seven, Gene Lockhart showed a propensity for working on the Stage. After polishing his skills at the Brompton Oratory School in London, England, Lockhart returned to the U.S. ready to take on Broadway.
As skilled as a playwright and lyricist as he was as an actor, Gene Lockhart soon found success on the American Stage. Between 1917 and 1925, Lockhart had demonstrated his skills as a performer, playwright, director and lyricist, all with positive critical success.
Lockhart met and married the former Kathleen Arthur, a British Stage actress, in 1924. In 1925, the couple gave birth to June Lockhart, who'd go on to fame in her own right, exploding onto the Broadway Stage at the age of 22, with a critically acclaimed performance in For Love or Money (1947).
Lockhart's Stage career eventually encompassed sixteen Broadway plays, several of which he both performed, wrote and directed--one of which, Bunk of 1926, he adapted from his own book, performed, directed and composed the score. Over the course of his Film career, Lockhart appeared in over 300 films as a solid, versatile character actor.
Lockhart's Radio career spanned the entire Golden Age of Radio era, highlighted by his own program, Abroad With the Lockharts (1930), and often appearing with his wife Kathleen in several other prestigious dramatic Radio venues over the years.
When Television took off in earnest, Gene Lockhart was as much in demand in the new medium as he'd been in Film. As Television took off, Gene Lockhart was already in his 60s, but as in demand for a wide range of character parts as he'd been in Film. Had he not been taken by a heart attack in 1957, it's more than likely that he'd have performed another ten years in Television and Film.
In a moment of perfect Film symmetry, the entire Lockhart family is fondly remembered every Christmas season for their appearance in A Christmas Carol (1938), with Gene Lockhart as Bob Cratchit, Kathleen Lockhart as Mrs. Cratchit, and June Lockhart as their daughter Belinda Cratchit. A fitting tribute to one of the entertainment world's most successful performing families.
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Kathleen Lockhart [Kathleen Arthur]
Stage, Screen, Radio, and Television Actress
(1894-1978)
Birthplace: Southsea, Hampshire, England, U.K.
Radiography:
1930 Abroad With the Lockharts
1936 Tonight In Hollywood
1936 Lux Radio Theatre
1938 The Chase and Sanborn Hour
1939 Good News
1941 The Rudy Vallee Sealtest Show
1945 The Nebbs
1946 Cavalcade Of America
1951 Family Theater
1952 The Forty Million The Gene and Kathleen Lockhart Hollywood Album (Audition)
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Kathleen Lockhart as Mrs. Cratchit in M-G-M's 1938 Christmas classic, A Christmas Carol

Kathleen Lockhart. The dour expression isn't sea-sickness. She's seen here as Mrs. Grayson the distraught mother in Lady In the Lake (1947)

Kathleen Lockhart as Mary Brewster in Plymouth Adventure (1952)
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From the February 23, 1978 edition of the Winnipeg Free Press:
Veteran actress Kathleen Lockhart dies at 84
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Kathleen Lockhart, mother of actress June Lockhart, and herself a veteran of more than five decades on the stage and screen, has died following a lengthy illness. She was 84.
Born in England, Mrs. Lockhart was the widow of actor Gene Lockhart. She and her husband collaborated on radio and the stage before branching out into films and television.
Mrs. Lockhart, who died Friday in Marycrest Manor, acted in about 30 films, including A Christmas Carol, Two Years Before the Mast.
Over a dramatic career spanning over five decades, Kathleen Lockhart was one of the most durable and versatile actresses of her time. Often acting opposite her equally famous husband, actor Gene Lockhart, the couple first appeared together over Radio in the delightful 1930 situation comedy, Abroad with The Lockharts. A brilliant touor de force by The Lockharts, the entire series was written and performed by only Gene and Kathleen Lockhart. Already in her mid-30s at the time, Kathleen's charm, natural comedic talent, and obvious ease working with her husband virtually ensured that the couple would work together many more times throughout their careers.
A respected Stage actress, Kathleen Lockhart's most lasting impression to the American public came with her marvelous transformation--every bit as much as that of 'Old Scrooge' himself--in the 1938 M-G-M Christmas classic, A Christmas Carol. Initially portrayed as the hopelessly down-trodden wife of the ever-optimistic Bob Cratchit, Kathleen Lockhart's ability to so dramatically transform her Mrs. Cratchit at various turns in roller-coaster script stole every scene in which she appeared.
Over a Film career that spanned at least forty feature films, Kathleen Lockhart appeared in a broad range of matronly or motherly characterizations. She retired from Film after the unexpected death of her husband Gene Lockhart in 1957.
All three Lockharts--Kathleen, Gene and young June--appeared together several times over Radio and in Film. Kathleen Lockhart reportedly devoted the remainder of her life to her daughter June and granddaughters Anne and Elizabeth before succumbing to a long illness at the age of 84.
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