The US actress Raquel Welch is dead. Welch, who celebrated cinema successes especially in the 60s and 70s, died on Wednesday at the age of 82 after a “brief illness”, her management told the German Press Agency .
Welch became known through the fantasy film “A Million Years Before Time” from 1966 – mainly thanks to her skimpy fur bikini. As cave girl Loana, the then 26-year-old became a sex symbol overnight. Welch had previously played several smaller roles, after which she celebrated numerous cinema successes.
She has worked with Hollywood greats such as James Stewart (“Bandolero”), Frank Sinatra (“Lady in Cement”), John Huston (“Myra Breckinridge”) and Burt Reynolds (“Death Comes Softly”). She demonstrated her comedic talent in The Three Musketeers (1973), for which she received a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy.
Welch also starred in the film World’s Oldest Profession (1967) and the comedy The Naked Gun 33 1/3 (1994).
Welch was born Jo Raquel Tejada in Chicago in 1940. She was married four times and divorced four times. Her first marriage has two children, Damon and Tahnee.
More on that shortly. (dpa / AFP)
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