Judy Pace, a model and actress known for her roles in Blaxploitation films of the 1970s, has died. She was 83.
The Brian’s Song actress’ daughters Shawn and Julia Pace Mitchell announced that their mother “died peacefully in her sleep” on Wednesday while visiting family in Marina Del Rey.
Born June 15, 1942 in Los Angeles, Julia Pace trained as a model, becoming Ebony Fashion Fair’s youngest in 1961.
Pace made her onscreen debut in William Castle’s 1963 Cold War spy film 13 Frightened Girls, launching her career as the first Black woman contracted at Columbia Studios. Throughout the ’60s, she went on to TV appearances in episodes of I Spy, Batman, Bewitched, Days of Our Lives, The Flying Nun, The Mod Squad, Tarzan and Peyton Place.
She won an NAACP Image Award for Best Actress during her time as Pat Walters on The Young Lawyers from 1969-’71.
In the ’70s, Pace went on to star in several Blaxploitation films, including Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) and The Slams (1973). She also portrayed wife of football legend Gale Sayers in Brian’s Song (1971).
A philanthropist, Pace founded the Kwanza Foundation in ’71 with Nichelle Nichols, supporting Black women working in film and providing scholarships to minority students pursuing careers in the arts.
Pace is survived by her daughters, attorney Shawn Pace Mitchell and actress Julia Pace Mitchell, her grandson Stephen Lamar Hightower III, her son-in-law Otto Strong, and many cherished family members and close friends. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Judy Pace’s honor to the NAACP.
