Raquel Welch: actress and Fantastic Voyage star dies aged 82 - what films was she in?

The actress became famous for her roles in 60s films Fantastic Voyage and One Million Years B.C

Hollywood actress Raquel Welch has died at the age of 82, her manager has confirmed.

Welch was famed for her roles in several films throughout the 1960s including Fantastic Voyage and Bedazzled. She became an instant sex symbol of the decade after appearing in 1966’s One Million Years B.C in her legendary fur bikini.

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The actress went on to win a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for The Three Musketeers in 1974. She is often said to have broken the mold for heroines in Hollywood.

Her manager confirmed that she had died on the morning of Wednesday 15 February following a short illness.

Who was Raquel Welch?

Welch was born Jo Raquel Tejada on 5 September 1940 in Chicago, Illinois. She made her first foray into the acting world in the early 1960s, with appearances in films such as the Elivs Presley vehicle Roustabout in 1964.

Her first feature role would come one year later in A Swingin’ Summer. Welch landed the leading role in 1966’s Fantastic Voyage, which propelled her to stardom.

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Her next role came in One Million Years B.C, released the same year. Welch appeared for only a short time in the film but the image of her in a deerskin bikini became one of Hollywood’s most legendary moments and launched her as a sex symbol of the decade.

Raquel Welch has died at the age of 82. (Credit: Getty Images)Raquel Welch has died at the age of 82. (Credit: Getty Images)
Raquel Welch has died at the age of 82. (Credit: Getty Images)

What films was Raquel Welch in?

Following her appearances in Fantastic Voyage and One Million Years B.C, Welch would go on to star in 60s films such as Bedezzled in 1967, Bandolero! in 1968, and opposite Frank Sinatra in Lady in Cement in 1968.

In the 1970s, she earned a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for The Three Musketeers. Her second nomination would come in the 1987 television movie Right to Die.

Her film appearances from the 1990s onwards included Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult in 1994, and Legally Blonde in 2001. She also appeared in prominent TV shows throughout her career, inlcuding a guest appearance in sitcom Seinfeld and Spin City.

Was Raquel Welch married?

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Welch was married a total of four times throughout her life. Her first husband, James Welch, was her childhood sweetheart whom she married in 1959.

The pair welcomed two children - Damon and Latanne - before divorcing in 1964. Welch would go onto continue to use her first married name throughout her career.

In the years after her first marriage, Welch married film producer Patirck Curtis. Curtis, who was instrumental in launching her career, was married to the actress from 1967 until 1972.

In 1980, she would marry her third husband, Andre Weinfield. The marriage lasted a decade before the couple divorced in 1990.

Her fourth and final marriage was to restauranteur Richard Palmer, whom she married 1999. After the couple divorced in 2003, Welch said that she would not remarry.

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