This “BOMBSHELL” turned 80 years old the first week of September, and still her stage name brings an image of feminine attractiveness to so many folks of all ages, and especially to men who were about 14 to 40, and probably older, in 1966.
This actress is, of course, RAQUEL WELCH! (supposedly the 21st greatgranddaughter of King Edward I)
She was born in 1940 in Chicago, Illinois, and the family moved to San Diego, California, when she was two years old. Wanting to become a ballet dancer, she took classes and lessons for about ten years but was finally told that her body structure just was not right for ballet!
At the age of 14, Raquel began to win “beauty contests” and later won the national title of “Maid of California.”
Graduating from La Jolla High School in 1958, she attended San Diego State College after receiving a “drama arts” grant. Soon she was doing “small bit” theatre parts and married James Welch in 1959.
Mrs. Welch became a “weather lady” on television in San Diego and also worked as a model in Dallas for Neiman Marcus. Reports have it that she became a “mixture server” (bar tender) in Los Angeles in 1963, where she met Patrick Curtis, who advised her to use her spouse’s name for her career so that she might avoid being stereotyped as “Latin American” in film roles. Apparently, he was also instrumental in convincing her to “play up” her feminine attractiveness in order to win more movie parts!
Miss Welch appeared in A House Is Not a Home and in Roustabout (Elvis Presley movie) in 1964 and followed these with small roles in “McHale’s Navy” and “The Virginian” (1965) on the small screen.
These were followed by A Swingin’ Summer and Fantastic Voyage (1966), and then, her big break, ONE MILLION B. C. (also 1966), in which she wore her “famous ox-skin bikini.”
Raquel Welch had a son and daughter with her first husband, James Welch—Damon and Tahnee (Latanne) Welch—but the couple divorced in 1964. Miss Welch has voiced regrets about this marriage failure and stated that James was the best of the four husbands she married!
1966—a marriage to Patrick Curtis, a producer
1980—a marriage to Andre Weinfeld, producer and journalist
1999—a marriage to Richard Palmer, restauranteur and fifteen years younger than his new wife—separated in 2008
Back to notable films: (1967) British spy film, Fathom— lead role as a skydiver, who recovers an atomic triggering mechanism (1968) Biggest Bundle of them All (alongside Robert Wagner) (following years): Bedazzled—Lady in Cement—Flareup— Bandolero (1970) The Beloved Sin and Myra Breckinridge (1971) Hannie Caulder (1972) Bluebeard (with Richard Burton) and Kansas City Bomber (1973-1974) The Three Musketeers film series (1975) The Wild Party (with James Coco)………. (2017) How To Be a Latin Lover.
I won’t try to name all her many awards, but a few include Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture for The Three Musketeers in 1975, a Star on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame in 1996, and the “Imagen Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award for positive promotion of Latin Americans throughout her career” in 2001.
Although sometimes criticized by so-called experts for her lack of acting skills, Raquel Welch was immensely popular and successful and won the hearts of many who viewed her through the years, as she became a spokesperson for various products. And, despite her fame as a beauty queen and alluring female, she never posed for a totally nude photoshoot! At 5 feet—6 inches tall, and weighing 118 to 121 pounds during her career, she was a “sizzling package of screen dynamite!”
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