Raquel Welch, Fantastic Voyage and One Million Years B.C. Star, Dead at 82
Actress and fashion icon Raquel Welch has passed away at the age of 82. TMZ reports that according to family members, Welch died the morning of Wednesday, February 15 after a brief illness. The star is known for her roles in the 1960s films Fantastic Voyage and One Million Years B.C., as well as for being an international sex symbol. Many equate her short role in One Million Years B.C. for catapulting Welch into the national limelight. While Welch didn't have a long role, she made it memorable for being dressed in a small, deerskin bikini.
Raquel Welch is also a Golden Globe winner for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical or Comedy for 1974's The Three Musketeers, where she played Constance de Bonacieux. Aside from the big screen, Welch held roles in TV shows such as Mork & Mindy, Lois & Clark, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and CSI: Miami.
Empire Magazine named Raquel Welch one of the "100 Sexiest Stars in Film History" in a 1995 issue, while Playboy had her ranked in third place in its "100 Sexiest Stars of the 20th Century," again demonstrating where her status as a sex symbol came from. As fans and colleagues began to morn the late actress, videos began to be shared online of her performance alongside Cher for an episode of The Cher Show from 1975. The two women performed next to each other in almost similar dresses while singing "I'm a Woman" to an applauding studio audience.
"My career's going better than ever, and I'm also having more fun now than I ever did," Welch said in a 2001 interview. "I've got to the point now where I can poke some fun at my old image and really enjoy letting go when a juicy role comes along, which is exactly what happened with Tortilla Soup (2001). I had a blast doing it. It's a very sensual film, and the food of course is just a metaphor for all the different characters in the story. We're all very different, and each character is quite unpredictable in their own way."
Her most recent acting appearances came in 2017's Date My Dad and How To Be a Latin Lover, as well as the Ice Spice music video "In Ha Mood."
Photo credit via Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic via Getty
