Judy Lenteen Pace (born June 15, 1942) is an American actress known for her roles in films and television shows, particularly

blaxploitation In American cinema, Blaxploitation is the film subgenre of action movie derived from the exploitation film genre in the early 1970s, consequent to the combined cultural momentum of the black civil rights movement, the black power movement, ...

films. Pace portrayed Vickie Fletcher on the TV series '' Peyton Place'' (1968–1969) and Pat Walters on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

drama series ''

The Young Lawyers ''The Young Lawyers'' is an American legal drama that was aired on the ABC network for one season from September 21, 1970, until March 24, 1971. Starring Lee J. Cobb, Zalman King, Judy Pace and Phillip Clark, the show was a part of the network' ...

'' (1969–1971), for which she won an

Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 ...

for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series in 1970.

Early life and career

Pace born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, to an airplane mechanic and a dressmaker. After graduation from

Dorsey High School Susan Miller Dorsey High School, commonly referred to as Dorsey High School, is a secondary public school located in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles, California. It is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. History The school ...

, Pace attended

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus of the U ...

, majoring in sociology. She made her film debut as one of the title characters in

William Castle William Castle (born William Schloss Jr.; April 24, 1914 – May 31, 1977) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is known for the horror film, horror and thriller film, thriller B movie, B-movies he directed durin ...

's ''

13 Frightened Girls ''13 Frightened Girls'' (also known as ''13 Frightened Girls!'' and ''The Candy Web'') is a 1963 Pathécolor Cold War spy film directed and produced by William Castle. Kathy Dunn stars as a teenage sleuth who finds herself embroiled in internati ...

'' (1963). She got her first major break in Hollywood in 1968 as the first black villainess on TV with her role as Vickie Fletcher in the hit ABC-TV soap-opera/drama series ''Peyton Place''. Also in 1968, Pace was singled out for praise by noted film critic

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

, for her performance in the popular youth-oriented film, ''

Three in the Attic ''Three in the Attic'' (stylized as ''3 in the Attic'') is a 1968 comedy-drama film directed by Richard Wilson and starring Christopher Jones and Yvette Mimieux, with Judy Pace and Maggie Thrett. Nan Martin, John Beck, and Eve McVeagh appe ...

'':

The find in this movie, for my money, is the young black actress Judy Pace, who is terrific. ''Variety'' calls her "the most beautiful black actress in Hollywood," which is debatable since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, etc., but she's a quick, funny actress who can put an edge on a line and keep a scene sparkling.

Pace quickly became a familiar face in the 1970s on both the big and small screens, appearing in popular blaxploitation movies and popular television shows. She appeared on television shows including ''

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

'', ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

'', ''

Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typi ...

'', ''

I Dream of Jeannie ''I Dream of Jeannie'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy sitcom television series created by Sidney Sheldon and starring Barbara Eden as a beautiful but guileless 2,000-year-old Jinn, genie and Larry Hagman as an astronaut with whom s ...

'', ''

The Flying Nun ''The Flying Nun'' is an American fantasy television, fantasy sitcom television series about a community of nuns, which included one who could fly when the wind caught her cornette. It was produced by Screen Gems for American Broadcasting Comp ...

'', ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that aired on the network NBC from November 8, 1965, to September 9, 2022; the soap has streamed n ...

'', ''

I Spy I spy is a guessing game where one player (the ''spy'' or ''it'') chooses an object within sight and announces to the other players that "I spy with my little eye something beginning with...", naming the first letter of the object. Other players a ...

'', '' Ironside'', '' Peyton Place'', ''

The Mod Squad ''The Mod Squad'' is an American crime drama series, originally broadcast for five seasons on ABC from September 24, 1968, to March 1, 1973. It starred Michael Cole as Peter "Pete" Cochran, Clarence Williams III as Lincoln "Linc" Hayes, Pegg ...

'', '' Medical Center'', ''

That's My Mama ''That's My Mama'' is an American television sitcom that was the first series to be produced by Columbia Pictures Television and originally broadcast for 39 episodes on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from September 4, 1974, to December 24, ...

,'' '' O'Hara, US Treasury'', ''

The New People ''The New People'' is a 1969 American television series on ABC that focused on a group of young college students who were returning from a trip in Southeast Asia when their plane crashed on an island in the south Pacific Ocean. This program is ...

'', ''

Insight Insight is the understanding of a specific causality, cause and effect within a particular context. The term insight can have several related meanings: *a piece of information *the act or result of understanding the inner nature of things or of se ...

'', ''

Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...

'', ''

Shaft Shaft may refer to: Rotating machine elements * Shaft (mechanical engineering), a rotating machine element used to transmit power * Line shaft, a power transmission system * Drive shaft, a shaft for transferring torque * Axle, a shaft around whi ...

'', ''

Caribe Caribe may refer to: * Caribe (Venezuelan TV series), ''Caribe'' (Venezuelan TV series), a Venezuelan telenovela * Caribe (American TV series), ''Caribe'' (American TV series), a 1975 television series produced by Quinn Martin * Caribe, or Cabir ( ...

'', ''

Sanford and Son ''Sanford and Son'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977. It was based on the British sitcom '' Steptoe and Son'', which initially aired on BBC1 in the United Kingdom from 1962 to ...

,'' ''

What's Happening!! ''What's Happening!!'' is an American sitcom television series that first aired on ABC from August 5, 1976, premiering as a summer series. It also returned as a weekly series, that later aired for the rest of the three seasons, from November 1 ...

'', and ''

Good Times ''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans (actor), Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was televis ...

''. For one season, she starred in the drama ''

'', broadcast on ABC. She also had a key supporting role as

Gale Sayers Gale Eugene Sayers (May 30, 1943 – September 23, 2020) was an American professional football halfback and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL). Sayers played for the Chicago Bears from 1965 to 1971, though injuries effec ...

's wife, Linda, in the critically acclaimed 1971 ABC-TV movie ''

Brian's Song ''Brian's Song'' is a 1971 ABC Movie of the Week that recounts the life of Brian Piccolo ( James Caan), a Chicago Bears football player stricken with terminal cancer, focusing on his friendship with teammate Gale Sayers ( Billy Dee Williams) ...

''.

Personal life

In 1972, Pace married actor Don Mitchell. They had two daughters together before their divorce in 1984. Their daughters are actress Julia Pace Mitchell and Shawn Meshelle Mitchell. Pace had been courted by late baseball great

Curt Flood Curtis Charles Flood Sr. (January 18, 1938 – January 20, 1997) was an American professional baseball center fielder and activist. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Redlegs, St. Louis Cardinals, and Washin ...

in 1966 when he saw her as a bachelorette contestant on the game show ''

The Dating Game ''The Dating Game'' is an American television game show that first aired on December 20, 1965, and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s. ABC dropped the show on July 6, 1973, but it ...

.'' They dated until 1970. After divorcing Mitchell in 1984, Pace and Flood met again, leading to their 1986 marriage. They remained together until Flood's death in 1997.

TV and filmography

As actress: * ''

'' (1963) * ''

'' (1966) * ''

The Fortune Cookie ''The Fortune Cookie'' (alternative United Kingdom, British title: ''Meet Whiplash Willie'') is a 1966 American black comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Billy Wilder. It is the first film in which Jack Lemmon collaborated with Wal ...

'' (1966) * ''

'' (1967) * ''

'' (1968) * ''

'' (1968) * '' The Thomas Crown Affair'' (1968) as Pretty Girl * ''

'' (1968) * '' Peyton Place'' (1968–1969) * ''

'' (TV movie) (1969) * ''The Young Lawyers'' (TV series) (1969–1971) * '' Up in the Cellar'' (1970) * ''

Cotton Comes to Harlem ''Cotton Comes to Harlem'' is a 1970 American neo-noir action comedy film co-written and directed by Ossie Davis and starring Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, and Redd Foxx. The film, later cited as an early example of the blaxploita ...

'' (1970) * ''

'' (1971) * ''O'Hara, U.S. Treasury'' (1971) * '' Cool Breeze'' (1972) * ''Oh, Nurse!'' (1972 TV movie) * ''

Frogs A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough skin texture due to ...

'' (1972) * ''

'' (TV series) (1973) * ''

The Slams ''The Slams'' is a 1973 American action film directed by Jonathan Kaplan and starring Jim Brown. Plot Curtis Hook (Jim Brown) is caught by the police after a heist. In jail, Curtis has to deal with people who want to know where he stashed the loo ...

'' (1973) * '' Ironside'' (1974) * ''

'' (1974) * ''

'' (1974) * '' Medical Center'' (1974) * ''

'' (1975) * ''

!!'' (two episodes, 1977–1979) * ''Beyond Westworld'' (1980) * ''

Sucker Free City ''Sucker Free City'' is a 2004 American crime drama television film directed by Spike Lee and written by Alex Tse. The film examines white, black, and Chinese characters in San Francisco and the conflicts they encounter with each other. The film ...

'' (2004) * ''Beauty and the Baller'' (four episodes, 2017) As herself: * ''Stevie Wonder/The Moments/Fully Guaranteed'' (1973) (TV episode) * ''

Soul Train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. After airing locally on WCIU-TV in Chicago, Illinois, for a year, it aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featu ...

'' (1973) * ''Christopher Jones'' (1999) * ''

E! True Hollywood Story ''E! True Hollywood Story'' is an American television documentary series on E!. Overview ''E! True Hollywood Story'' originally started as a series of specials beginning on March 29, 1996, but evolved into a weekly biographical documentary ...

'' (1999) * ''Curt Flood'' (2000) (TV episode) * '' ESPN SportsCentury'' (two episodes, 2000–2004) * ''Disciples of Jackie Robinson'' (2004) (TV episode)

References

Macumba Love Spotlight On Actress Judy Pace

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pace, Judy 1942 births American television actresses Living people Actresses from Los Angeles 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 20th-century African-American actresses 21st-century African-American actresses Susan Miller Dorsey High School alumni