Hollywood has lost one of its quiet trailblazers. Judy Pace, the model and actress whose grace, talent, and determination helped open doors for generations of Black women in film and television, died peacefully in her sleep on March 11 at the age of 83. She was visiting family in Marina Del Rey, California, when she passed.
Her daughters, attorney Shawn Pace Mitchell and actress Julia Pace Mitchell, announced the news through a spokesperson. She is also survived by her grandson, Stephen Lamar Hightower III, and her son-in-law, Otto Strong. In honor of her memory, her family has requested that donations be made to the NAACP.
A career that quietly rewrote the rules
Judy Pace was born in Los Angeles in 1942 and began her professional life as a model, becoming the youngest participant in the Ebony Fashion Fair’s 1961 to 1962 tour before her passion for performance led her toward acting. Her film debut came in 1963 with 13 Frightened Girls, where she played a Liberian teenager — a role that launched what would become a remarkable and pioneering career.
That debut did more than introduce her to audiences. It made her the first Black woman to be signed under contract at Columbia Studios, a milestone that spoke volumes about both her talent and the significance of her presence in an industry that had long been slow to recognize it.
The roles that defined a generation
Pace went on to build a body of work that spanned two decades and touched nearly every corner of film and television. She starred as Vickie Fletcher in the primetime drama series Peyton Place from 1968 to 1969, and won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series in 1970 for her role as Pat Walters in The Young Lawyers, a performance that earned her recognition as one of the most compelling actresses of her era.
Her film credits during this period were equally impressive, including The Fortune Cookie in 1966, Three in the Attic and The Thomas Crown Affair in 1968, Cotton Comes to Harlem in 1970, and Frogs and Cool Breeze in 1972. She also guest-starred on some of the most beloved television series of the era, among them Bewitched, Good Times, I Spy, I Dream of Jeannie, Mod Squad, That’s My Mama, and Sanford and Son.
Brian’s Song and a moment that stopped the country
Of all her credits, it was the 1971 TV movie Brian’s Song that brought Pace to her widest and most emotionally moved audience. She played the wife of football legend Gale Sayers in the celebrated film, which also starred James Caan. When it aired, 55 million people watched representing roughly half of every American household that owned a television at the time. It was a cultural moment of rare magnitude, and Pace was at its center.
A legacy that extended far beyond the screen
Pace’s impact on Hollywood was never limited to her performances alone. In 1971, she co-founded the Kwanza Foundation alongside actress Nichelle Nichols, an organization dedicated to supporting Black women working in film and providing scholarships to minority students pursuing careers in the arts. It was a reflection of who she was beyond the camera — someone who understood that opening doors meant making sure others could walk through them too.
She was married to Major League Baseball star Curt Flood in 1968 and, following his death in 1997, remained a devoted advocate for his legacy and his long-overdue induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. She later shared two daughters with actor Don Mitchell, to whom she was married from 1972 to 1984.
Her final acting credit came in 2017 with a four-episode arc in Beauty and the Baller, a quiet final chapter for a woman whose career had never truly stopped moving forward.
Judy Pace was 83. She will not be forgotten.
Source: PEOPLE / Pace Mitchell Family Spokesperson
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