The name Raquel Welch is inscribed in huge letters not only in the history of cinema, but also in the history of world culture. Despite the fact that there are not so many main roles among the actresses, there is hardly at least one person who does not agree that Welch is a unique phenomenon, a symbol of the era of the 70-80s, a standard of femininity and beauty.

Early years

Jo Raquel Maria Tejada was born in Chicago on September 5, 1940, she is the eldest daughter of aeronautical engineer Armando Tejada Urquizo and Josephine Sarah Hall. Shortly after Raquel’s birth, the family moved to California, where her brother James and sister Gail were born.

Her father is from Bolivia and her mother is English. Raquel studied classical ballet from the age of 7 and dreamed of a stage, however, when one of the teachers said that the girl’s forms had become too magnificent, she left the ballet. Raquel won her first title at the age of 15, becoming a school beauty queen, two years later she became Miss San Diego, and then Miss California. Victories in competitions did not prevent the girl from studying, and in 1958 she graduated from school with honors. Her bright appearance and acting talent helped her get a college scholarship, after which the young actress was invited to television, where she covered the weather forecast for several years.

Raquel Welch in the movies

In 1963, Raquel met Patrick Curtis, an agent who saw in her the makings of a big star, and became her personal manager. Raquel’s first appearance on the big screen is considered to be a cameo role in the 1964 film The Handyman, starring Elvis Presley. The appearance of the beauty in this picture passed unnoticed, but already in 1966 she played the role of Cora’s nurse in the fantasy “Fantastic Journey” and woke up famous. The picture became a real hit of that time and was nominated for an Oscar in five categories. The role of the scientist, in whose body the lush-haired Cora, reduced to a microscopic size, was implanted, was played by Stephen Boyd.

In the period from 1966 to 1978, Raquel starred in more than twenty films, the most famous of which are One Million Years BC, Blinded by Desires, Bandolero! and The Three Musketeers. For her role in the latter, Welch received a Golden Globe.

With the beginning of the 80s, the actress began to accept invitations much less, paying attention to participating in Broadway productions, as well as developing her own business.

The film fund included the 1987 film

The Right to Die, where Welch’s partners were Michael Gross and Peter Michael Goetz. For the role of a female psychologist battling a terrible disease, the actress was again nominated for the Globe, but did not receive an award. Critics noted that Raquel’s incredible beauty, impeccable figure and sexuality played an evil trick on her, “burying” a subtle dramatic actress under the role of a screen beauty.

In 1994, Welch’s star was inaugurated on the Walk of Fame, and a few years later she received an award from film academics for her contribution to the development of the film industry.

Symbol of the 70s

It is generally accepted that an actress who has not received other film awards, except for the Golden Globe, is a sex symbol of the 70s, however, such a definition of one of the brightest stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood is conceptually incorrect and incomplete, since the Welch phenomenon is much more voluminous and consists in the penetration its images in various layers of culture, including mass culture. Women around the world have stopped bleaching their hair and applying aggressive make-up, and the demonstration of sexuality, which began its triumphant march through the minds of housewives during the screen reign of Marilyn Monroe, has taken on a more natural shape.

In 1979, the appearance of a photo of Welch on the Playboy spread disappointed the male part of the planet, who expected to see her naked, but reinforced the authority of the actress, on the one hand, being a recognized sex symbol, and on the other, an exemplary wife and mother who never speculates on her perfect proportions. The parameters of the figure Raquel 94-64-91 for several decades have firmly taken the position of the reference and encouraged women to leave strict diets and go in for sports.

The image of the actress from the film “One Million Years BC” is among the top ten images of on-screen beauties. A poster of a young Raquel in a fur bikini became a cover for the manhole that led to the freedom of the hero Tim Robbins in the film The Shawshank Redemption.

The famous photograph, in which Salvador Dali kisses the hand of a coquettishly posing Raquel, was part of the performance of the Master, and the abstract portrait is kept in the Dali Museum-Theatre.

Business Raquel Welch

A successful person is successful in everything, this thesis is also proved by the story of Welch, who managed to anticipate the era of hatha yoga and open a network of fitness clubs across America, in which she promoted her training program and the principles of healthy eating. In 1984, Raquel wrote her first book on health, and within a few years her books and educational videos could be found in every American home. Clearly proving with her appearance the undoubted benefits of training, a healthy lifestyle and a positive attitude to the world, Raquel, unlike her colleague Jane Fonda, was in no hurry to turn to plastic surgeons.

Also, the Welch business empire includes its own line of cosmetic products for face and body skin care, the production of exclusive jewelry and a branded line of wigs.

Personal life

Raquel’s first husband was her classmate James Welch, from whom she gave birth to a son, Damon, and a daughter, Tanya. Despite mutual efforts to save the family, Raquel and James were forced to admit that they were in a hurry, and in 1964 they divorced.

The second time the actress married in 1967 to her agent Patrick Curtis, however, this marriage did not become happy either. In 1972, the couple announced their separation, and the following year – a divorce.

In 1980, Raquel became the wife of Andre Weinfeld, an entrepreneur and producer, but broke up with him ten years later.

The fourth marriage of the actress was also not successful, it lasted ten years. After breaking up with restaurateur Richard Palmer, whom she married in 1999, Raquel said she no longer felt the need to get married.

Raquel Welch now

With the advent of the 90s, the actress, who devoted her main time to business development, rarely pleased her fans with new roles. Raquel agreed to play in television series and hosted an author’s program on TV, and on the big screen she appeared in the films What I Did for Love (1998), Legally Blonde (2001), Forget About It (2005) and “House of Versace” (2013).

In 2017, Raquel played in the comedy How to be a Latin Lover, joining Salma Hayek.

The movie legend lives in California, she often speaks frankly with journalists, revealing the secrets of unfading youth and beauty, among which she names getting up at 6 in the morning and exercising every day, as well as carbohydrate-free nutrition and thorough skin care.

Photo source: Instagram actress.