AceShowbiz - Judy Pace, the pioneering actress and model celebrated for her impactful roles in 1970s Blaxploitation films and the iconic TV movie Brian's Song, has passed away at the age of 83.

Her daughters, Shawn and Julia Pace Mitchell, shared that their mother "died peacefully in her sleep" while visiting family in Marina del Rey, California, on Wednesday.

Born on June 15, 1942, in Los Angeles, Pace began her career as a model, becoming the youngest Ebony Fashion Fair model in 1961. She made her screen debut in the 1963 Cold War spy thriller 13 Frightened Girls, directed by William Castle, marking her as the first Black woman to be signed by Columbia Studios.

Throughout the 1960s, Pace appeared in numerous television shows, including I Spy, Batman, Bewitched, Days of Our Lives, The Flying Nun, The Mod Squad, Tarzan, and Peyton Place. Her role as Pat Walters on The Young Lawyers earned her an NAACP Image Award for Best Actress, which she won from 1969 to 1971.

In the 1970s, Pace starred in several notable Blaxploitation films, such as Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) and The Slams (1973). She is perhaps best remembered for portraying the wife of football legend Gale Sayers in the groundbreaking 1971 telefilm Brian's Song. The film, starring James Caan and Bill Dee Williams as Chicago Bears running backs Brian Piccolo and Sayers, highlighted the first interracial roommates in NFL history.

Aside from her acting career, Pace was a dedicated philanthropist. In 1971, she co-founded the Kwanza Foundation with Nichelle Nichols, an organization aimed at supporting Black women in the film industry and providing scholarships to minority students pursuing arts careers.

Judy 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, along with numerous beloved family members and close friends. The family has requested that donations in her memory be made to the NAACP instead of flowers.