Judy Pace

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Judy Pace
Pace in 1970
Born
Judy Lenteen Pace

(1942-06-15) June 15, 1942 (age 81)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materLos Angeles City College
OccupationActress
Years active1963–present
Known forPeyton Place
The Young Lawyers
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1972; div. 1984)​
​
​
(m. 1986; died 1997)​
Children2; including
Image Award Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series The Young Lawyers
(1970)

Judy Lenteen Pace

Image Award
for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series in 1970.

Early life and career

Pace was born the second of two daughters in

Oscar Brown, Jr. After high school, Pace attended Los Angeles City College, majoring in sociology.[4] Pace made her film debut as one of the title characters in William Castle's 13 Frightened Girls (1963).[5] 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.[6] Also in 1968, Pace was singled out for praise by noted film critic Roger Ebert, for her performance in the popular youth-oriented film, Three in the Attic:

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.[7]

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. Television shows on which she appeared include

Kung Fu, Shaft, Caribe, Sanford and Son, What's Happening!!, and Good Times.

Cast of ABC TV series The Young Lawyers (1970): From left-Pace, Lee J. Cobb (both seated) and Zalman King
.

For one season, she starred in the drama The Young Lawyers broadcast on ABC. Pace also had a key supporting role as Gale Sayers's wife, Linda, in the critically acclaimed 1971 ABC-TV movie Brian's Song.[5][8]

Personal life

In 1972, Pace married actor Don Mitchell.[4] They had two daughters together before their divorce in 1984.[4][9] Their daughters are actress Julia Pace Mitchell and Shawn Meshelle Mitchell.[citation needed] Pace had been courted by late baseball great Curt Flood in 1966 when he saw her as a bachelorette contestant on the game show The Dating Game.[5] They dated until 1970. After divorcing Mitchell in 1984, Pace and Flood met again, leading to their 1986 marriage.[5] They remained together until Flood's death in 1997.[4][10]

TV and filmography

As actress:

As herself:

  • Stevie Wonder/The Moments/Fully Guaranteed (1973) (TV episode)
  • Soul Train (1973)
  • Christopher Jones (1999)
  • E! True Hollywood Story (1999)
  • Curt Flood (2000) (TV episode)
  • ESPN SportsCentury
     (two episodes, 2000–2004)
  • Disciples of Jackie Robinson (2004) (TV episode)

Sources

References

  1. ProQuest 2495533894
    . JUDY PACE: Judy Lenteen Pace was a woman of many firsts. In addition to being the first Black woman to ever receive a contract from a major motion picture studio, she is also the first Black television vilíainess, starring in the hit show "Peyton Place" in 1964. The dramatic series was the first to feature a Black family on prime time television.
  2. ISBN 978-0-7864-3790-0
    .
  3. ISBN 9781440619014
    .
  4. ^
    ISBN 9780786458042
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 9781476601168
    .
  6. ^ "Little Known Black History Fact: Judy Pace". 1 April 2013.
  7. ^ Ebert, Roger (20 December 1968). "THREE IN THE ATTIC". RogerEbert.com. Chicago Sun-Times.
  8. ^ "Judy Pace". TVGuide.com. TV Guide. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  9. ISBN 9781476616520
    .
  10. ^ Ebert, Roger (January 10, 1969). "Interview with Judy Pace". RogerEbert.com.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Judy Pace.
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