Raquel Welch dies at 82: actress dies after brief illness

American actress and international sex symbol Raquel Welch has died at the age of 82 after a brief illness, her business manager has confirmed.

Steve Sauer said CNN who died in Los Angeles on Wednesday morning after a “brief illness.”

His death was first reported by TMZciting family members, prompting fans and celebrities alike to post tributes to the iconic actress online.

Welch rose to fame for his back-to-back roles in Fantastic Voyage and One Million Years BC in 1966.

She had minimal speaking roles in One Million Years BC, but her deerskin bikini in the film cemented her as a sex symbol.

From there, Welch found great success as a movie star in the 1960s and 1970s, winning a Golden Globe for his role in The Three Musketeers in 1974.

In 1995, Welch was named one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in Movie History in an issue of Empire magazine and was ranked #3 on Playboy’s list of the 100 Sexiest Stars of the 20th Century.

Raquel Welch, who rose to international fame in the 1960s, has died at the age of 82

Welch, pictured in 2017, is survived by her two children, Tahnee and Damon Welch.

The actress was born Jo Raquel Tejada on September 5, 1940, in Chicago, Illinois, to a Bolivian immigrant father, Armando Carlos Tejada Urquizo and Josephine Sarah Hall.

She was the eldest of three siblings, James and Gayle Tejada.

The family moved to San Diego, California when Welch was just 2 years old, where he regularly attended church with his mother.

Welch began studying ballet at the age of 7, but gave up the search after 10 years when her instructor told her she did not have the right body type for professional ballet companies.

At the age of 14, Welch won beauty titles like Miss Photogenic and Miss Contour. She would later win Miss La Jolla and the title of Miss San Diego, Fair’s Fairest, at the San Diego County Fair.

Eventually, she was even named a California Maiden.

After high school, Welch attended San Diego State College on a theater arts scholarship and married her high school sweetheart, James Welch, in 1959.

Her first foray into Hollywood came as a guest on popular TV shows like Bewitched, The Virginian, and McHale’s Navy.

From there, he got his big break in Fantastic Voyage and One Million Years BC.

She also took on roles playing the deadly sin Lust opposite Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in the 1967 comedy Bedazzled and played the titular secret agent in the spy comedy Fathom.

Welch also had roles in the 1969 western 100 Riles and played the transgender lead character Myra Breckinridge in the 1970s film.

By the 1970s, Welch was making the rounds on television, appearing in the Robin Williams comedy Mork and Mindy as her nemesis, as well as in the made-for-TV movies The Girl’s Back in Town and Right to Die, winning a Golden Globe. for the latter.

More recently, Welch has appeared on Lois & Clark, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Seinfeld, Spin City, and CSI: Miami.

She played the titular transgender character Myra Breckinridge in the 1970s film.

Welch’s first foray into Hollywood came with guest appearances on popular television shows before landing her breakout roles on Fantastic Voyage and One Million Years BC.

Welch was named one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in Movie History in 1995.

Welch was married to James Welch from 1959 to 1964, Patrick Curtis from 1967 to 1972, Andre Weinfeld from 1980 to 1990, and Richard Palmer from 1999 to 2004, with whom she has two children, Tahnee and Damon Welch.