Actress Raquel Welch has died at the age of 82, her management confirmed to HuffPost.
Welch burst onto the Hollywood scene in the 1960s and became an icon of the era with a glamorous role as a bikini-clad prehistoric cavewoman in One Million Years BC.
Her management told HuffPost that the “legendary of film, television and stage” died after a brief, unspecified illness.
“His career spanned over 50 years, starring in over 30 films and 50 television series and appearances,” the statement said. “In recent years, the Golden Globe winner has been involved in a very successful wig line. Raquel is survived by her two children, her son Damon Welch and her daughter Tahnee Welch.
Born Jo Raquel Tejada to a Bolivian father and an American mother, Welch got her start in front of the camera as a meteorologist for KFMB, a San Diego news station, before moving to Los Angeles and landing a studio deal . It was her role in 1966’s Fantastic Voyage – a sci-fi film about a team that shrinks itself to miniatures so they can enter the body of a leading scientist and heal him – that made her a star.
She went on to have an extensive film and television career, once starring opposite Robin Williams in the 1970s sitcom “Mork and Mindy.” In recent decades, she’s had roles on “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” “Seinfeld” and “CSI: Miami,” and had a memorable role as Mrs. Windham Vandermark in 2001’s “Legally Blonde.” Her most recent appearance it was in 2017, when she played the role of the mother-in-law of a recently widowed father of three in the American series “Date My Dad”.
In 1974, Welch reflected on being catapulted to fame by others’ perceptions of her appearance in an interview with Rolling Stone, the author of which made sure to comment on her breasts in the opening paragraphs of her finished piece.
“To say that you are a sex symbol, the most beautiful girl in the world, is initially fantastic. Do you think it is not good? Then you walk by a mirror and say, “Uh-oh, that face won’t launch a thousand ships, and that body isn’t that hot either.” No one can be the most beautiful girl in the world. It’s just fairy tale time,” Welch said.
She continued: “Now, after some psychotherapy, I’ve come to terms with the monster and said OK, there’s the publicity, the label. It means money and the ability to do other things. It will be difficult, but by using it you can open the other side and let people know that you are a serious artist.”
