Actress and Hollywood Sex Symbol Raquel Welch Dead at 82

Longtime actress and international sex symbol Raquel Welch has died, her manager confirmed to People on Wednesday. She was 82.

Welch, a Golden Globe winner, “passed away peacefully early this morning after a brief illness,” manager Steve Sauer said.

She made her film debut in the mid-1960s, breaking out with her performances in Fantastic Voyage and One Million Years B.C. in 1966.

Born Jo Raquel Tejada on Sept. 5, 1940, in Chicago, she grew up in San Diego, where her family moved when she was 2 -years-old. She married her high school sweetheart, James Welch, after graduating in 1958, when she began to pursue a career in acting.

Raquel Welch Dead at 82

She began by gaining parts in several local theater productions and working as a weather presenter at San Diego’s KFMB-TV.

After separating from her husband following five years of marriage (1959-64), she moved to Texas with her children to become a waitress and model. She moved back to California with an eye on acting in 1963.

Three years later, following her role in B.C., she became one of America’s leading pinup models and Hollywood’s brightest sex symbol.

“Other titles under her belt include 100 Rifles, The Prince and the Pauper, Chairman of the Board, Legally Blonde and more,” People wrote. “Her final film role was in 2017’s How to Be a Latin Lover. She also memorably performed “I’m a Woman” with Cher back in 1975 on The Cher Show.”

Why was Raquel Welch Famous for Her “Bad” Behavior in Hollywood?

Welch once said she knew she wanted to be an actress by the age of 7.

“My parents enrolled me in a theater program,” she told People. “You could get away from some of the painfulness of real life. I always had flights of fancy.”

Her book, Beyond the Cleavage, was released in 2010 when she was 70, and immediately became a best-seller.

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