After graduation from Dorsey High School,[4][5] Pace attended Los Angeles City College, majoring in sociology.

[7] 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.

[8] 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.

She appeared on television shows including Batman, Tarzan, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Flying Nun, Days of Our Lives, I Spy, Ironside, Peyton Place, The Mod Squad, Medical Center, That's My Mama, O'Hara, US Treasury, The New People, Insight, Kung Fu, Shaft, Caribe, Sanford and Son, What's Happening!

She also had a key supporting role as Gale Sayers's wife, Linda, in the critically acclaimed 1971 ABC-TV movie Brian's Song.