American actor Raquel Welch has died

15 February, 2023

Raquel Welch

Raquel Welch, the American actor and ‘60s pin-up icon, has died today (February 15) at the age of 82, her family have confirmed.

The star died at her home in Los Angeles, her son Damon said. No cause of death has been made public at present.

Welch was born Jo-Raquel Tejada in Chicago on September 5, 1940, before her family moved to southern California when she was two years old. She studied theatre at San Diego State College but dropped out to marry her then-boyfriend and later got a job as a weather reader on the TV channel KFMB.

Although she had several small parts in films and TV series before, Welch rose to fame in 1966 when she scored the role of Loana in One Million Years B.C. Her appearance on the film’s poster in a doeskin bikini transformed her into a Hollywood pin-up, although she became better known for her looks than her acting skills.

However, in 1973 she won a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical or Comedy for her role as Constance Bonacieux in The Three Musketeers. She reprised the role a year later in the sequel, The Four Musketeers.

She later went on to appear in films like Chairman Of The Board and Legally Blonde, while on the small screen, she had a cameo in Seinfeld, as well as parts in Sabrina The Teenage Witch, American Family, 8 Simple Rules and more. Her final roles came in 2017 when she played Celeste Birch in the film How To Be A Latin Lover and Rosa in the comedy-drama TV show Date My Dad.

In 2010, she published a memoir titled Beyond The Cleavage. “Personally, I always hated feeling so exposed and vulnerable [in romantic scenes],” she wrote in it, discussing her refusal to do nude scenes on film.

“I’ve definitely used my body and sex appeal to advantage in my work, but always within limits. I reserve some things for my private life, and they are not for sale.”

“So sad to hear about Raquel Welch’s passing,” Reese Witherspoon wrote on Twitter following the news of Welch’s death. “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.”

 

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