THE HUMILIATION OF RAQUEL WELCH: How sex symbol became 'trapped' by Hollywood
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Raquel Welch, who shot to fame as a sex symbol in the 1960s and is known for her roles in films 'Fantastic Voyage' and 'One Million Years B.C.', died on Wednesday, February 15, at the age of 82. Raquel's son, Damon, said she 'passed away with no pain' after suffering from a brief illness.
Raquel’s representative Steve Sauer said in a statement, "The legendary bombshell actress of film, television, and stage, passed away peacefully early this morning after a brief illness. 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,” states Diario AS. While Raquel's son, Damon, expressed, "She passed away with no pain. I'm very proud about what she contributed to society and her career and everything. I'm most proud of her doing the U.S.O tours with Bob Hope during the late 60s and early 70s. We missed Christmas with her for three years while she was doing that. She said that was the hardest thing," reports NPR.
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The journey of Raquel Welch
Born on September 5, 1940, as Raquel Tejada, she was the oldest of three children to parents Armand Carlos Tejada and Josephine Sarah Hall. Her father was from Bolivia and her mother was American, she described the details in her 2020 book, 'Beyond The Cleavage.'
Raquel wanted to be a ballet dancer. She took ballet lessons but destiny had other plans. She won several teen beauty titles at the age of 14, reports VOA News, and became Maid of California in 1958, states CBR. Following this, she started working as a weather girl. "My string of beauty titles was still generating enough heat and momentum to land me a regular stint on the local news channel, KFMB in San Diego, as the weather girl," she wrote in her book, as per Daily Mail. "It was a popular morning show called Sun Up and a great opportunity I didn't want to miss. So I didn't mind that I had to rise and shine each morning at 5 AM and leave early to tape the show," she narrated.
That time, she also got married to James Welch, her high school lover, in 1959 and started studying theater at San Diego State College in California. They were married for five years before they divorced in 1964, according to Diario AS. They had two children, a son, Damon, who was born in 1959, and a daughter, Tahnee, who was born in 1961.
In her book, she wrote, "I had dreams of using the recent exposure I'd gathered to start building an acting career, but now I could feel my resolve was crumbling. A girl can't live on professional ambitions alone. I hadn't counted on this unexpected turn. In fact, no one had anticipated where my strong emotional attachment to Jim [James] would lead, and most of my inner circle was shocked to see my plans go so far off course," as per Daily Mail.
Following her divorce, Raquel moved to Dallas with her two children where she worked as a model for Neiman Marcus and also worked as a cocktail waitress. Soon, she decided to move back to California. And there, her career started with appearances on TV shows such as 'The Virginian', in 1964, followed by 'McHale's Navy' and 'Bewitched.' One of the first stints was in 1964 'Roustabout' which had Elvis Presley as the lead. She got her first featured film, the 1966 sci-fi 'Fantastic Voyage' but it was 'One Million Years B.C' that gave her fame as she donned a deerskin bikini in the caveman screen epic.
Why was Racquel Welch blackballed by Hollywood?
However, this image remained with the audience which made her frustrated. "They really didn't want any other input from me. I had all these ideas and ambitions percolating inside, but nobody wanted to hear them. I remember trying to talk with directors and they would say, 'Could you just not think and not have any ideas, please!' It kind of felt like doors were being closed to my soul," Raquel said in her book and added, "I tried a lot of different ways, and that was the way the break came. I had tried a much more serious approach and was getting absolutely nowhere. And as soon as I said, 'OK, well then, I'll do the Hollywood thing - I'll wear the tight dresses and go to the auditions all sparkling like I see everybody else doing it, because I clearly [had not been] playing that game.' And then it ended up working only too well. I trapped myself."
“I felt a rite of passage where I am over that part where I have to run around in a bikini forever. It’s just so painfully uncomfortable and in a way kind of humiliating," she told Los Angeles Times in 2010. In 2016, she told, “There were so many things going for me, but with it came a lot of stereotypical opinions about my abilities and who I was." And added, "In the end, I’ve gotten a lot of opportunities to do various things I am very proud of, including Broadway and the physical comedy in ‘The Three Musketeers’ [for which she won a Golden Globe]. So I would probably say to [my younger self,] ‘Good for you.'"