Judy Pace, Pioneering Actress and Model Known for ‘Peyton Place,’ ‘Brian’s Song’ and ‘The Young Lawyers,’ Dies at 83

Judy Pace, a pioneering model and actress known for her work in “Peyton Place,” “Brian’s Song,” “The Young Lawyers” and numerous films, has died. She was 83.

Pace died in her sleep on March 11 while visiting family members in Marina del Rey, her family said in a statement.

Pace was the first Black female actress to be put under long-term contract by Columbia Pictures in the early 1960s when she began to make her mark as a model. She made her movie debut in a film from famed B-movie producer William Castle, “13 Frightened Girls.” A few years later, Pace joined the cast of what was then TV’s hottest primetime soap opera, ABC’s “Peyton Place.” The role that she played in 1968 and 1969 made her among the most prominent Black actors on TV at the time.

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Pace also saw her star rise in 1971 with her supporting role in the critically beloved, Emmy-winning ABC TV movie “Brian’s Song.” She played Linda Sayers, the wife of NFL player Gale Sayers, in the movie that told the true story of the friendship between two young NFL players — Sayers and Brian Piccolo — as Piccolo faced terminal cancer. Billy Dee Williams played Gale Sayers, a role that also elevated his stature in Hollywood.

Around that same time, Pace also starred in the ABC drama series “The Young Lawyers,” which ran for one season from September 1970 to May 1971. She played one of three law students who provided pro bono help to hard luck cases from the mean streets of Boston. She starred opposite Lee J. Cobb as the wisened leader of the effort, with Zalman King and Phillip Clark as her fellow law students.

Born in Los Angeles in 1942, Pace grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from Dorsey High School and Los Angeles Community College. Her sister Betty trained her in the art of modeling. Pace went on to become the youngest model selected for Ebony magazine’s Fashion Fair national tour in 1961-62. She became the first TV and print “spokesmodel” for Fashion Fair Cosmetics, making inroads for Black models in advertising and fashion.

In 1965, Pace broke another barrier by becoming the first Black “bachelorette” contestant to appear on “The Dating Game.”

Pace’s wide range of film credits included “The Fortune Cookie” (1966), “Three in the Attic” (1968), “The Thomas Crown Affair” (1968), “Cotton Comes to Harlem” (1970), “Frogs” (1972) “Cool Breeze” (1972). She logged guest star shots on some of the most popular TV series of the 1960s and ’70s: “Bewitched,” “I Spy,” “I Dream of Jeannie,” “The Mod Squad,” “Sanford and Son,” “That’s My Mama,” “Good Times” and “What’s Happening.”

Pace was also active in philanthropy. In 1971, she co-founded the Kwanza Foundation with “Star Trek” star Nichelle Nichols. The organization focused on supporting Black women in film and providing scholarships to minority students pursuing careers in the arts.

Pace was married for 12 years to actor Don Mitchell, who had a long run on the NBC drama series “Ironside.” In 1986, she married baseball superstar Curt Flood and was with him until his death in 1997.

Pace’s survivors include two daughters, attorney Shawn Pace Mitchell and actress Julia Pace Mitchell, and a grandson.