Raquel Welch dead: ‘Fantastic Voyage,’ & ‘The Three Musketeers’ actress and sex symbol was 82.
Actress Raquel Welch, who rose to fame as a sex symbol of the 1960s, died Wednesday after a brief illness. She was 82.
“Raquel Welch, the legendary bombshell actress of film, television and stage, passed away peacefully early this morning after a brief illness,” her rep said in a statement Wednesday to The Post.
“The 82-year-old actress burst into Hollywood in her initial roles in [‘One Million Years B.C.’] and ‘Fantastic Voyage.’ Her career spanned over 50 years starring in over 30 films and 50 television series and appearances. The Golden Globe winner, in more recent years, was involved in a very successful line of wigs. Raquel leaves behind her two children, son Damon Welch and her daughter, Tahnee Welch.”
Her long resume also includes “Bedazzled,” “Myra Breckinridge” and a memorable turn on the sitcom “Seinfeld.” But it was her breakout role in the 1966 sci-fi movie “Fantastic Voyage” that made her a household name and cemented her sex symbol status.
“My co-star was Stephen Boyd, who was not hard on the eyes. I had a terrible crush on him. I was too scared to say anything about it because it was my first big movie with Fox, and I was in with a lot of heavyweights,” Welch told The Post in 2012 about her role as a medical team member trying to save an injured diplomat’s life.Welch continued, “I had one really important line to say, and it was something to do with oxygenation, which I had written down on a piece of scenery so I could glance at it before they called me. It was kind of silly.”
Born on Sept. 5, 1940, Welch became interested in performing at a young age by taking part in ballet and beauty pageants. She attended San Diego State College on a theater arts scholarship and starred in several local theater productions.
Welch was a two-time Golden Globe nominee, winning a Globe in 1975 for best actress in a musical or comedy movie for “The Three Musketeers,” which also starred Faye Dunaway and Charlton Heston.
Welch received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994. She portrayed a diva-ish version of herself on the 1997 “Seinfeld” episode “The Summer of George.” In it, Cosmo Kramer wins a Tony Award for his play, which stars Welch. In order to keep his award, he must fire the actress. It doesn’t go well.
Welch’s final movie role was in 2017’s “How to Be a Latin Lover.” Her final TV credit was also that year, “Date My Dad.” In later years, Welch found success with her signature wig collection, HAIRuWEAR.
She was spotted for the first time in over two years while stopping by the Heritage Auctions building in Beverly Hills in September 2021.
She married her high school sweetheart, James Welch, in 1959 and had two children: Damon, 63, and Latanne “Tahnee,” 61. The couple divorced in 1964.
Welch would marry three more times, to Patrick Curtis (from 1967 to 1972), André Weinfeld (from 1980 to 1990) and Richard Palmer (from 1999 to 2004).
