Actress Raquel Welch has passed away aged 82
(Picture: Reuters)Actress Raquel Welch has passed away aged 82 after a short illness.
The film star has been credited for her portrayal of strong female characters that helped to reshape the traditional sex symbol of the time.
An image that will forever remain iconic features the actress in a doeskin bikini for her role as Loana the Fair One in One Million Years BC.
The actress went on to be a formidable force in the entertainment industry and proved to be more than just a Hollywood siren.
So sad to hear about Raquel Welch's passing. I loved working with her on Legally Blonde. She was elegant , professional and glamorous beyond belief. Simply stunning. May all her angels carry her home. 🕊️ Sending love to her family and her many fans ❤️ pic.twitter.com/FBtXhpvS25
— Reese Witherspoon (@ReeseW) February 15, 2023
Raquel Welch’s early life
Welch was born Jo Raquel Tejada in Chicago on September 5, 1940.
Her father, Armand Carlos Tejada, was Bolivian and worked as an aeronautical engineer. He moved to the US, where he married Welch’s mother Josephine Sarah Hall. Welch was the oldest of three siblings.
The family moved to California when she was two years old. She enrolled in the San Diego Junior Theatre landing her first role playing the prince in The Princess and the Caterpillar when she was only seven.
The actress then began taking ballet classes and attended La Jolla High School where she won beauty titles including Miss Photogenic, Miss Contour, Miss La Jolla, Miss San Diego and Maid of California – all while achieving straight A’s.
Welch then graduated with honours from high school, signed up at the San Diego State College after winning a theatre arts scholarship and married her high school sweetheart, James Welch. The couple had two children.
Bolstered by her beauty pageant success, Welch signed on to serve as a weather girl at a local San Diego news channel.
Raquel Welch’s early career success
Early in the film star’s career, she met Hollywood agent and ex-child actor Patrick Curtis, who later became her manager.
Small roles in films came her way, including A House Is Not a Home (1964) and Roustabout starring Elvis Presley that same year. These were followed by television roles in Bewitched, Navy and The Virgin.
She also appeared in a teen beach movie called A Swingin Summer, with one critic commenting: “It’s hard to look away when she’s in view”.
Welch was eventually recognised by 20th Century Fox, the biggest studio in Hollywood, and with the help of her manager signed a seven-year nonexclusive contract that included five pictures over the next five years.
Raquel Welch’s acting career and success
Welch’s first major feature role was in the sci-fi film Fantastic Voyage (1966) but it was her appearance in One Million Years BC that catapulted her fame, cementing herself as a sex symbol of the 1960s and beyond.
Film roles then included The Oldest Profession (1967), Bedazzled (1967), Lady in Cement (1968), 100 Rifles (1969), Flareup (1969), The Magic of Christian (1969), Myra Breckinridge (1970), and Bluebeard (1972) appearing opposite Richard Burton.
The same year of Bluebeard, Welch was put on a hugely successful one-woman show in Las Vegas and caught the attention of director Richard Lester, who later cast her in The Three Musketeers.
The film featured Oliver Reed and Faye Dunaway and landed Welch her first acting award winning her Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes.
She also won another Golden Globe for her television role in Right to Die (1987).
Welch proved to be a timeless actress and continued to work throughout the next decades appearing in films including Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult (1994), Legally Blonde (2001) and How to Be a Latin Lover (2017).
In 1994, Welch received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard.
She also released The Raquel Welch Total Beauty and Fitness Program books and videos in 1984 and a mega-successful signature line of wigs.
Raquel Welch a powerful force
In 1979 Welch posed for Playboy but never did a fully nude shoot with Hugh Hefner writing of the star that she “was one of the last of the classic sex symbols, came from the era when you could be considered the sexiest woman in the world without taking your clothes off”.
He added: “She declined to do complete nudity, and I yielded gracefully. The pictures prove her point.”
Proving yet again what a force she was, in 1981 the actress filed a breach of contract suit against MGM after being fired for her lead role in Cannery Row opposite Nick Nolte. The jury sided with Welch and she was awarded a whopping $10 million (£8.2m).
Raquel Welch was one of the most wonderful people I’ve ever worked with. Performing a duet with her on The Muppet Show helped moi become the W-O-M-A-N I am today! We’ll never forget vous, Raquel! pic.twitter.com/fo0saG7EiD
— Miss Piggy (@MissPiggy) February 15, 2023
Tributes to the actress flooded in on social media after her death was announced.
“So sad to hear about Raquel Welch’s passing. I loved working with her on Legally Blonde,” wrote Reese Witherspoon.
“She was elegant, professional and glamorous beyond belief. Simply stunning. May all her angels carry her home. Sending love to her family and her many fans.”
Viola Davis also wrote on Instagram saying: “It was such a pleasure to meet you! You were ageless to me...iconic.... Rest well Raquel Welch!!”
