Hollywood lost a true pioneer this week. Judy Pace, the groundbreaking actress who lit up screens in Brian’s Song, Peyton Place, and dozens of classic television shows, died peacefully in her sleep on March 11 while visiting family in Marina del Rey. She was 83.
The Judy Pace dies at 83 news was confirmed by her daughters, attorney Shawn Pace Mitchell, and actress Julia Pace Mitchell. In a statement, they remembered their mother as “widely regarded as one of Hollywood’s most strikingly beautiful and elegant performers during her prime,” adding that she “built a career that helped open doors for Black actresses in mainstream entertainment”.
Born June 15, 1942, in Los Angeles, Pace graduated from Dorsey High School and studied sociology at Los Angeles City College. Before acting, she made history in fashion. In 1961, she became the youngest model ever selected for Ebony magazine’s Fashion Fair national tour, a traveling showcase that highlighted Black designers and models during an era of limited opportunities.
Her onscreen debut came in 1963 with William Castle’s Cold War spy film 13 Frightened Girls, where she played a Liberian diplomat’s daughter. That role made her the first Black actress placed under contract at Columbia Studios, the beginning of a barrier-breaking career.
Throughout the 1960s, Pace became a familiar face on America’s most popular shows. Her guest credits read like a syllabus of classic television: Batman, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, I Spy, The Flying Nun, The Mod Squad, Tarzan, Days of Our Lives, and Peyton Place.
On Peyton Place, the primetime soap opera that dominated ratings, she played the sharp-tongued manipulator Vickie Fletcher during the show’s final season. She shared scenes with Ruby Dee, another Black Hollywood legend, at a time when seeing two Black actresses in dramatic roles together was rare.
In 1965, she broke another barrier as the first Black bachelorette to appear on The Dating Game.
From 1969 to 1971, Pace starred on ABC’s The Young Lawyers as Pat Walters, one of three law students providing pro bono help to hard-luck cases in Boston. Her performance earned her the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series in 1970, a testament to her growing influence.
In 1971, Pace landed what would become her most enduring role. In the ABC Movie of the Week Brian’s Song, she played Linda Sayers, the wife of Chicago Bears legend Gale Sayers. Billy Dee Williams portrayed her husband, and James Caan starred as Brian Piccolo, the teammate dying of cancer.
The film, which told the true story of the NFL’s first interracial roommates, drew an estimated 55 million viewers and became one of the most beloved television movies ever made . Roger Ebert praised Pace’s work across her career, calling her “a quick, funny actress who can put an edge on a line and keep a scene sparkling”.
The 1970s saw Pace embrace the Blaxploitation movement with memorable roles. She played the scheming, seductive Iris in the 1970 comedy classic Cotton Comes to Harlem, where one character memorably warns: “She’s a stone fox, watch your ass” . She also appeared in Cool Breeze (1972), The Slams (1973), and the eco-horror film Frogs (1972).
Her range impressed critics. Bob McCann’s Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television noted Pace’s “schizophrenic career”: “good girl” roles like Brian’s Song alongside feature film characters who were “militant, overtly sexual, cocky, totally confident”.
In a 1968 interview with Roger Ebert, Pace spoke candidly about the industry’s limitations. “The hardest thing to do is to find any sort of movie role if you’re a black actress,” she said. “People don’t realize that. They talk about Sidney Poitier and Jim Brown, but where are the actresses?”.
She credited television with keeping Black actresses employed. “Let’s face it. If it weren’t for TV, all the young black actresses in Hollywood would be unemployed”.
In 1971, Pace co-founded the Kwanza Foundation with Star Trek’s Nichelle Nichols. The organization supported Black women working in film and provided scholarships to minority students pursuing arts careers.
Pace largely retired from acting in 1975 to raise her two daughters with actor Don Mitchell, whom she married in 1972. They divorced in 1984. In 1986, she married baseball legend Curt Flood, the free agency pioneer who challenged the reserve clause. They remained together until his death in 1997.
Accepting an award in 2019 at age 77, Pace reflected on her journey. “This is my 77th year. I am having a ball,” she told a cheering crowd. “I’m a native Californian. I have to thank my mom and my dad for getting the hell out of Jackson, Miss., and making their way to the Pacific Ocean, where you can be anything you want to be”.
Pace is survived by daughters Shawn Pace Mitchell and Julia Pace Mitchell, grandson Stephen Lamar Hightower III, and son-in-law Otto Strong. The family requests donations to the NAACP in lieu of flowers.
