Raquel Welch passed away at the age of 82. She is regarded for paving the way for current action women in Hollywood blockbusters.
The celebrity died quietly on Wednesday morning following a brief illness, according to her management.
In the 1960s, Welch became an international sex icon for her role as a bikini-clad cavewoman in the 1966 film One Million Years B.C.
She earned a Golden Globe for her performance in The Three Musketeers in 1974.
Welch, who was born Jo-Raquel Tejada in 1940 and grew up in California, won teen beauty contests and eventually became a local weather forecaster.
During her brief stay in Dallas, Texas, the divorced mother of two worked as a model for Neiman Marcus and as a cocktail server.
Her major break came in 1964, shortly after she moved back to California when she appeared in Elvis Presley’s musicals A House Is Not a Home and Roustabout.
Two years later, she rose to popularity with roles in the sci-fi picture Fantastic Voyage and the fantasy film One Million Years B.C.
Welch only had a few lines in the latter, but advertising stills of her wearing a tiny two-piece deerskin bikini elevated her to the status of the era’s most popular pin-up girl.
Despite her public image, she has long voiced dissatisfaction with the portrayal of her body, stating,
“I was neither raised nor born to be a sex symbol.”
“The fact that I became one is likely the most charming, glamorous, and fortunate mistake,” she continued.
Welch addressed her image in her biography, Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage, in which she discussed her childhood, her early career difficulties as a single mother in Hollywood, and the reason why she would never lie about her age.
In a career spanning more than 50 years, Welch has appeared in over 30 films and 50 television series.
It included portraying Frank Sinatra’s love interest in the 1968 film Lady in Cement, the titular transgender heroine in the 1970 film Myra Breckenridge, and a Golden Globe-nominated performance in the 1987 television drama Right to Die.
She also created her own brand of wigs, a jewelry and skincare collection, and a Mac Cosmetics beauty line later in life.
Reese Witherspoon was among those expressing tribute, tweeting that she “loved” working on Legally Blonde with Welch.
“She was beyond elegant, professional, and glamorous,” Witherspoon added. Simply breathtaking.
Viola Davis, an actress, and producer, tweeted a 1975 clip of her singing “I’m a Woman” with Cher with the caption “You were timeless to me…iconic.”
In 1978, she sang the same song with the renowned Miss Piggy puppet, earning her an homage from a favorite comedy show on Wednesday.
The Disney series tweeted,
“We’ll never forget our great friend Raquel Welch, one of our favorite Muppet Show guests.”
Paul Feig stated that he enjoyed collaborating with her on the television series Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
“Kind, witty, and a true superstar, I fell in love with him for the most of my life,” he wrote, adding, “We’ve lost a true icon.”
She left behind an actor son, Damon Welch, and an actress daughter, Latanne “Tahnee” Welch.
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