Raquel Welch, who paved the way as both an actress and international sex symbol has died after a brief illness at the age of 82.
Welch first rose to fame for her roles in “Fantastic Voyage” and “One Million Years B.C.” both in 1966.
She became an international sex symbol in the 1960s, widely remembered for playing a bikini-clad cavewoman in the 1966 film One Million Years B.C.
Despite her public image, however, she long expressed discomfort with the representation of her body, once saying she “was not brought up to be a sex symbol, nor is it in my nature to be one”.
“The fact that I became one is probably the loveliest, most glamorous and fortunate misunderstanding,” she added.
She was one of the most sought-after female stars throughout the ’60s and ’70s … taking home plenty of hardware in the process, including a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical or Comedy for her 1974 role in “The Three Musketeers.”
Welch was named one of the “100 Sexiest Stars in Film History” in an issue of Empire magazine in 1995 … and was ranked #3 in Playboy’s “100 Sexiest Stars of the 20th Century.”
Raquel was married four times and has two kids, Tahnee and Damon Welch
