According to a statement released by her manager, Steve Sauer, Raquel Welch, a seasoned actress who gained notoriety in the 1960s through the films “One Million Years B.C.” and “Fantastic Voyage,” has passed away. She was 82 years old.
After a “short illness,” Welch passed away in Los Angeles on Wednesday morning, according to the statement. The actress, who has appeared in more than 70 motion pictures and television shows, began her career as a spokesmodel on the variety program “Hollywood Palace.”
In 1964, she also had a brief part in the Elvis Presley movie “Roustabout.” Two years later, with the release of “Fantastic Voyage,” a science fiction movie about a group of scientists who are shrunk and injected into the body of a man who is critically ill, and “One Million Years, B.C.,” a prehistoric drama with Welch playing the cavewoman Loana, her career really took off and she became an international s*x icon.
Welch has a long career in both film and television. Later in the 1960s, Welch played a variety of leading roles, including those in the westerns “Bandolero!” and “100 Rifles,” the latter of which is renowned for her contentious interracial love scene with former football player Jim Brown at the time.
Welch played Lilian Lust in the 1967 movie “Bedazzled,” which was later remade in 2000 and featured Elizabeth Hurley and Brendan Fraser (Net Worth). This was after the films “Fantastic Voyage” and “One Million Years, B.C.” had received immediate popularity.
The actress, who was born in Chicago, later played Constance de Bonacieux in the 1973 film “The Three Musketeers.” Welch received a Golden Globe nomination for best actress for her portrayal of de Bonacieux in the 1974 follow-up, “The Four Musketeers: Milady’s Vengeance.”
Among Welch’s other significant performances was the title part in the 1970 film “Myra Breckinridge,” in which she portrayed a trans actress.
Welch made several sitcom appearances in the 1990s, notably “Seinfeld,” when she played a fictional version of herself as a tribute to the famed diva she had become. In “Spin City,” “Evening Shade,” and “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,” Welch also made an appearance.
By the start of the century, Welch continued to play recognizable roles. The legendary actress co-starred with Reese Witherspoon (Divorce) in the 2001 film “Legally Blonde” as Mrs. Windham Vandermark, the ex-wife of the late Hayworth Windham, whose murder Witherspoon’s Elle Woods helps solve.
Welch continued to gain ground, and the label of “s*x symbol” persisted as well. In an interview with Cinema.com around the time of the premiere of her 2001 film “Tortilla Soup,” Welch claimed that “being a s*x symbol is really nice and it does help you attain success in the business, but only to a point,” adding that “it does muddy people’s imagination.”
They simply don’t think you are capable of doing anything else. Welch’s last known acting role was in UPtv’s “Dating My Dad” in 2017, where the superstar played Rosa, the mother-in-law of a single dad.
Welch also made time for his business ventures, which included wig, jewelry, and skincare brands. According to a statement from her management, the celebrity leaves behind her two children, daughter Tahnee Welch and son Damon Welch.
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