Judy Pace, a pioneering actress whose career helped expand opportunities for Black women in Hollywood during the 1960s and ’70s, has died. She was 83.
Pace’s daughters, Shawn Pace Mitchell and actress Julia Pace Mitchell, announced that their mother “died peacefully in her sleep” while visiting family in Marina Del Rey, California.
Born June 15, 1942, in Los Angeles, Pace began her career in entertainment as a model. In 1961, at just 20 years old, she became the youngest model to walk in the Ebony Fashion Fair, one of the most influential fashion platforms celebrating Black beauty and style during that era.
Her transition into acting soon followed. Pace made her screen debut in William Castle’s 1963 Cold War spy film 13 Frightened Girls, a role that helped launch a groundbreaking career. She would go on to become the first Black woman contracted by Columbia Pictures, marking a major milestone during a time when opportunities for Black actresses in Hollywood were extremely limited.
Throughout the 1960s, Pace built an impressive television résumé with appearances on series including I Spy, Batman, Bewitched, Days of Our Lives, The Flying Nun, The Mod Squad, Tarzan, and Peyton Place.
Her performance as Vickie Fletcher on Peyton Place was particularly notable, allowing her to play a complex character rarely afforded to Black women on television at the time.
Pace also made history beyond scripted television. In 1965, she became the first Black woman to appear as a bachelorette on the popular game show The Dating Game.
Her career continued to expand into film in the early 1970s. Pace appeared in several notable Blaxploitation-era films, including Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) and The Slams (1973). During the same period, she portrayed the wife of football legend Gale Sayers in the acclaimed television film Brian’s Song (1971), starring alongside Billy Dee Williams.
Beyond her acting career, Pace was deeply committed to supporting Black artists and students pursuing careers in the arts. In 1971, she co-founded the Kwanza Foundation with Star Trek actress Nichelle Nichols. The organization focused on supporting Black women working in film and television while also raising funds for scholarships for minority students pursuing creative careers.
The foundation brought together several prominent Black actresses, including Esther Rolle, Marla Gibbs, Debbie Allen, and Pam Grier, to organize fundraising events and mentorship initiatives.
Pace’s work extended to the stage as well. She performed in theater productions, including a Las Vegas run of the musical Guys and Dolls featuring an all-Black cast.
She was married to actor Don Mitchell from 1972 to 1986, and later to former Major League Baseball player Curt Flood, who died in 1997.
Pace is survived by her daughters, Shawn Pace Mitchell and Julia Pace Mitchell, her grandson Stephen Lamar Hightower III, her son-in-law Otto Strong, and extended family and friends.
In lieu of flowers, her family has asked that donations be made in her honor to the NAACP.