Raquel Welch
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Raquel Welch |
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| Personal | |
| Born | September 5, 1940 Chicago, Illinois, USA |
| Ethnicity | Latina |
| Nationality | American |
| Body | |
| Measurements | 37-25-36 |
| Cup size | D |
| Boobs | Natural |
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) |
| Weight | 130 lb (59 kg) |
| Body type | Average |
| Eye color | Brown |
| Hair | Brunette |
| Databases | |
| IMDb | |
Raquel Welch (born September 5, 1940) is an American actress and model. Welch, one of the most famous sex symbols of all time, has fueled the sexual fantasies of men for close to four decades. The buxom pin-up's popularity throughout the 1960s and 1970s has eclipsed that of many other actresses much younger then her. Though she is over 60 years of age the statuesque Welch remains as sexy as ever.
Early life
Welch was born Jo Raquel Tejada in Chicago, Illinois, the oldest of three children born to Armando Carlos Tejada and Josephine Sarah Hall. Her father was a Bolivian immigrant who was an aerospace engineer, and her mother was an Irish-American.
In 1942, Armando Tejada was transferred to San Diego, California. The family moved to the suburb of La Jolla, where Raquel grew up. She took dancing lessons as a child, and was winning beauty pageants by the time she was a teenager. Among her titles were "Miss Photogenic," "Miss La Jolla," "Miss Contour," and "Miss San Diego." In 1957, she was named "Miss Fairest of the Fair" at the San Diego County Fair. After high school she entered San Diego State College on a theater arts scholarship. The following year she married a high school sweetheart, James Welch.
Career
In 1959, Raquel Welch played the title role in the famous Ramona Pageant, a yearly outdoor play at Hemet, California, which is based on the novel Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson.
She became a weather presenter at a local San Diego television station. Because of her heavy schedule, she decided to leave college. Her marriage broke up and she moved with her two children to Dallas, Texas, where she modeled for Neiman-Marcus and worked as a cocktail hostess, intending to move on to New York City from there.
Instead, she moved back to California. She found a place in Los Angeles and started making the rounds of the movie studios. She was cast in bit parts in two films and television shows, Bewitched, McHale's Navy, The Hollywood Palace, and The Virginian. She actually auditioned for the part of "Mary Ann" on Gilligan's Island but lost out to Dawn Wells. Welch's first featured role was in A Swingin' Summer, which led to a contract with 20th Century Fox. She was then cast in the Sci-fi hit Fantastic Voyage, which finally made her a star.
On loan out to Hammer Studios in Britain, she starred in the remake of One Million Years B.C.. After her appearance as Lust incarnate in Bedazzled, she returned to the United States and appeared in a Western with James Stewart and Dean Martin titled Bandolero!, which was followed by Lady in Cement with Frank Sinatra. Her first real starring role was in Myra Breckinridge with Mae West. She took the role as the film's transsexual heroine in an attempt to be taken seriously as an actress, but the movie turned out to be a dismal failure.
Despite box office disappointments, Welch became one of the leading sex symbols of the 1960s and 1970s. Her most memorable publicity still, where she was clad in a furry animal-skin bikini for One Million Years B.C., became a bestselling poster. Playboy called her the "Most Desired Woman" of the 1970s.
Welch was due to star in the 1982 adaptation of Cannery Row, but was fired by the producers in favour of Debra Winger. She successfully sued, collecting a multi-million dollar award, but this effectively ended her film acting career until the mid-90's. Her television appearances include the series The Hollywood Palace, the made for TV movies The Legend of Walks Far Woman and Right to Die, in which she turned in a stirring performance as a woman with Lou Gehrig's disease, and in the PBS series American Family, about a Mexican American family in East Los Angeles. She has also appeared in the night time soap opera CPW and made infomercials and exercise videos. While she never appeared on the show, her name was frequently used as an all-purpose answer on the game show Match Game. In 1987, she flirted with a pop singing career, releasing the dance single This Girl's Back In Town.
She has also performed in a nightclub act in Las Vegas and has starred on Broadway in Woman of the Year and in Victor/Victoria, where she replaced Julie Andrews.
In a 1997 episode of the comedy series Seinfeld entitled "The Summer of George" Welch played a highly temperamental version of herself, assaulting series stars Kramer and Elaine because they found humour in Welch's inability to swing her arms when she danced onstage.
As a businesswoman Welch has experienced great success with her signature line of wigs. She also began a jewelry and skincare line although neither of those ventures compared to the success of her wig collection.
Personal Life
She has been married to James Welch (1959-1962), publicist and agent; Patrick Curtis (who played the baby of Olivia de Havilland in Gone with the Wind) (1967-1972), writer; Andre Weinfeld(1980-1990); and Richard Palmer (1999). She is the mother of Damon Welch and actress Tahnee Welch.
Achievements and Awards
In 1974, Raquel Welch won a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical or Comedy for The Three Musketeers. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in the TV drama Right to Die (1987). She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.
Trivia
Raquel Welch appeared on Playboy's list of the 100 sexiest stars of the 20th century; coming in 3rd after Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield
Filmography
- Staar (2006)
- Forget About It (2005)
- Jim Brown: All American (2002)
- Tortilla Soup (2001)
- Legally Blonde (2001)
- Chairman of the Board (1998)
- What I Did for Love (1998)
- Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)
- Trouble in Paradise (1989)
- Crossed Swords (1978)
- The Animal (1977)
- Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976)
- The Wild Party (1975)
- The Four Musketeers (1974)
- The Three Musketeers (1973)
- The Last of Sheila (1973)
- Bluebeard (1972)
- Fuzz (1972)
- Kansas City Bomber (1972)
- Hannie Caulder (1971)
- The Beloved (1970)
- Myra Breckinridge (1970)
- 100 Rifles (1969)
- Flareup (1969)
- The Magic Christian (1969)
- The Biggest Bundle of Them All(1968)
- Bandolero! (1968)
- Lady in Cement (1968)
- Think Twentieth (1967)
- The Oldest Profession (1967)
- Fathom (1967)
- Bedazzled (1967)
- The Queens (1966)
- Fantastic Voyage (1966)
- One Million Years B.C. (1966)
- Shoot Loud, Louder... I Don't Understand (1966)
- A Swingin' Summer (1965)
- Roustabout (1964)
- A House Is Not a Home (1964)
Television Work
- American Family (2002-2004)
- Seinfeld " The Summer Of George" (1997)
- Central Park West (1995-1996)
- Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby (1994) (voice)
- Tainted Blood (1993)
- Torch Song (1993)
- Trouble in Paradise (1989)
- Scandal in a Small Town (1988)
- Right to Die (1987)
- The Legend of Walks Far Woman (1982)
- Raquel! (1970)
- The Hollywood Palace (1964)
