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| Birth Name(s) : Jo Raquel Tejada |
Date of Birth: September 5, 1940 |
| Status:
Married
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Partner:
Richard Palmer |
| Profession:
Actor |
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Full Raquel Welch Biography
In the mid and late 1960s she was positively ubiquitous, wearing a furry animal-skin bikini on a best-selling poster, but for all her exposure, Raquel Welch wasn't able to maintain a long-term big-screen career. A perennial beauty-contest winner who took ballet lessons and studied drama, she broke into films in 1964 with bits in A House Is Not a Home and Elvis Presley's Roustabout the following year she appeared briefly in A Swingin' Summer She supplemented her meager income by modeling, using her sensuous, high-cheekboned face and spectacular figure to help pay the rent. In 1964 she became the "billboard girl" on TV's "Hollywood Palace."
Divorced from high-school sweetheart James Welch, in 1965 she married former child actor and press agent Patrick Curtis, who charted a course for her career. She appeared in many European magazines, and landed a role in the Italian-made EB>. I Don't Understand (1966) that led to a contract with 20th Century-Fox. Fantastic Voyage (also 1966) gave her a costarring part in a hit movie, while the British-made prehistoric saga One Million Years B.C (also 1966) was promoted with a popular poster that made her a household figure, as well as name.
She followed up with Fathom (1967), Bedazzled (also 1967, as "Lust"), The Biggest Bundle of Them All, Bandolero! (both 1968), Lady in Cement (also 1968, opposite Frank Sinatra), Flareup, 100 Rifles and The Magic Christian (all 1969). Welch proved to have screen presence, and a sense of humor, but moviegoers were interested in her skin-tight costumes and bikinis, not her acting range.
Myra Breckinridge (1970) teamed Raquel with Mae West, the sex symbol of an earlier era, in a horrendous misfire. Hannie Caulder and Kansas City Bomber (both 1972) followed, but her starring days were numbered. She fared best in en semble films like The Last of Sheila (1973) and the send-up swashbucklers The Three Musketeers (1974) and The Four Musketeers (1975), which exploited the novelty of having her poke fun at herself. Other films include Bluebeard, Fuzz (both 1972), The Wild Party (1975), Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976), and Crossed Swords (1978).
In the 1980s she launched a cabaret act, and even made it to Broadway, taking over the lead in the musical "Woman of the Year." Her most prized personal project was the TV movie The Legend of Walks Far Woman in which she played an Indian woman at various stages of her life; filmed in 1979, it didn't air until 1982. Since then she has starred in other telefilms-1987's Right to Die and 1988's Scandal in a Small Town and Trouble in Paradise-and found a more positive way of exploiting her still-impressive figure with a series of best-selling exercise videotapes and accompanying fitness books. She played herself in The Naked Gun 33: The Final Insult (1994). Her daughter Tahnee Welch, also an actress, appeared in the all-star hit Cocoon (1985) and its 1988 sequel. |
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Additional Raquel Welch Biography
Welch was born in Chicago, Illinois, the oldest of three children born to Armando Carlos Tejada Urquizo and Josephine Sarah Hall. Her father, who immigrated from La Paz, Bolivia, was an aerospace engineer of Spanish-Castilian descent; 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 Welch 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 attending La Jolla High School, she entered San Diego State College on a theater arts scholarship. The following year she married a high school sweetheart, James Welch.
In 1959, 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.Raquel Welch as Loana in One Million Years B.C. (1966)
She became a weather forecaster at KFMB, 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.
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 (1966), which finally made her a star.
On loan out to Hammer Studios in Britain, Welch starred in the remake of One Million Years B.C.. After her appearance as Lust incarnate in the hit 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.Myra Breckinridge (1970)
Welch's 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.
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, replacing 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, the former because he fired her from an acting job and the latter because Welch mistakenly thought that Elaine was mocking her.
On July 18, 2007 Liz Smith reported that Welch has been invited to play Eva Longoria's sexy aunt on Desperate Housewives.
"The Raquel Welch Total Beauty and Fitness Program" was published in 1984. The book, written by Welch herself includes a Hatha Yoga fitness program, her views on healthy living/nutrition, as well as beauty and personal style.
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.
In January 2007 she was revealed as the newest face of MAC Cosmetics Beauty Icon series. Her line features several limited edition makeup shades in glossy black and tiger print packaging.
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). |
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Raquel Welch Quote(s)
| Americans have always had sex symbols. It'a time-honored tradition and I'm flattered to have been one. But it's hard to have a long, fruitful career once you've been stereotyped that way. That's why I'm proud to say I've endured. |
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