Hollywood Icon Raquel Welch Dies Aged 82
Actor Raquel Welch has died at age 82, her management confirmed to HuffPost.
Welch broke into Hollywood in the 1960s and went on to become a symbol of the era, with an eye-catching role as a prehistoric bikini-clad cavewoman in One Million Years BC, despite only having a few lines of dialogue.
Her management told HuffPost that the “legendary bombshell actress of film, television and stage” died after a brief, unspecified illness.
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“Her career spanned over 50 years starring in over 30 films and 50 television series and appearances,” read the statement. “The Golden Globe winner, in more recent years, was involved in a very successful line of wigs. Raquel leaves behind her two children, son Damon Welch and her daughter, Tahnee Welch.”
Welch was born Jo Raquel Tejada in Chicago to Bolivian father Armando Carlos Tejada Urquizo and American mother Josephine Sarah.
She had two siblings, a brother James and sister Gayle and was raised as a Presbyterian.
She took the name of her first husband, James Welch, who she married in 1959.
Welch began her career as a weather presenter a local San Diego television station, before moving to Texas, where she modelled for department store Neiman Marcus and worked as a cocktail waitress.
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Welch went on to star in a number of other movies throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and in 1974 scooped the Golden Globe award for best actress in a musical or comedy for her role as Constance de Bonacieux in The Three Musketeers.
She was later nominated for a second time for her performance in 1987 film Right To Die.
As a result of her bikini-clad success on screen, Welch became a sex symbol, gracing the cover of Playboy magazine in 1979.
Welch also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which she was awarded in 1996.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame have confirmed flowers will be laid on Welch’s star following the news of her death.
Later in life, Welch branched out into creating a line of wigs with the Raquel Welch Wig Collection. Of her wig designs, Welch said: “My mantra: Make it nothing but the best. Then make it better.”
She leaves behind her two children, son Damon Welch and her daughter, Tahnee Welch.
