srepac Posted June 23, 2007 Posted June 23, 2007 Welch was born in Chicago, Illinois, the oldest of three children born to Armando Carlos Tejada and Josephine Sarah Hall. Her father, who immigrated from La Paz, Bolivia, was an aerospace engineer of Castilian Spanish descent; her mother was an Irish-American.[1] In 1942, Armando Tejada was transferred to San Diego, California. The family moved to the suburb of La Jolla, where Welch grew up. She took dancing lessons as a child, and was winning beauty pageants by the time she was a teenager. Among her titles were "Miss Photogenic," "Miss La Jolla," "Miss Contour," and "Miss San Diego." In 1957, she was named "Miss Fairest of the Fair" at the San Diego County Fair. After attending La Jolla High School, she entered San Diego State College on a theater arts scholarship. The following year she married a high school sweetheart, James Welch. n 1959, Welch played the title role in the famous Ramona Pageant, a yearly outdoor play at Hemet, California, which is based on the novel Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson. Raquel Welch as Loana in One Million Years B.C. (1966) Raquel Welch as Loana in One Million Years B.C. (1966) She became a weather forecaster at a local San Diego television station. Because of her heavy schedule, she decided to leave college. Her marriage broke up and she moved with her two children to Dallas, Texas, where she modeled for Neiman Marcus and worked as a cocktail hostess, intending to move on to New York City from there. Instead, Welch moved back to California. She found a place in Los Angeles and started making the rounds of the movie studios. She was cast in bit parts in two films and in the television shows Bewitched, McHale's Navy, The Hollywood Palace, and The Virginian. She auditioned for the part of "Mary Ann" on Gilligan's Island but lost out to Dawn Wells.[citation needed] Welch's first featured role was in A Swingin' Summer, which led to a contract with 20th Century Fox. She was then cast in the Sci-fi hit Fantastic Voyage (1966), which finally made her a star. On loan out to Hammer Studios in Britain, Welch starred in the remake of One Million Years B.C.. After her appearance as Lust incarnate in Bedazzled, she returned to the United States and appeared in a Western with James Stewart and Dean Martin titled Bandolero!, which was followed by Lady in Cement with Frank Sinatra. Welch's first real starring role was in Myra Breckinridge with Mae West. She took the role as the film's transsexual heroine in an attempt to be taken seriously as an actress, but the movie turned out to be a dismal failure. Despite box office disappointments, Welch became one of the leading sex symbols of the 1960s and 1970s. Her most memorable publicity still, where she was clad in a furry animal-skin bikini for One Million Years B.C., became a bestselling poster. Playboy called her the "Most Desired Woman" of the 1970s. Despite her iconic sex symbol status and having appeared in numerous films and magazine layouts, including Playboy, Welch has never appeared or posed nude. Welch was due to star in the 1982 adaptation of Cannery Row, but was fired by the producers in favour of Debra Winger. She successfully sued, collecting a multi-million dollar award, but this effectively ended her film acting career until the mid-1990s. Her television appearances include the series The Hollywood Palace, the made for TV movies The Legend of Walks Far Woman and Right to Die, in which she turned in a stirring performance as a woman with Lou Gehrig's disease, and in the PBS series American Family, about a Mexican American family in East Los Angeles. She has also appeared in the night time soap opera Central Park West and made infomercials and exercise videos. While she never appeared on the show, her name was frequently used as an all-purpose answer on the game show Match Game. In 1987, she flirted with a pop singing career, releasing the dance single This Girl's Back In Town. Playboy, December 1979 Playboy, December 1979 She has also performed in a nightclub act in Las Vegas and has starred on Broadway in Woman of the Year and in Victor/Victoria, replacing Julie Andrews. In a 1997 episode of the comedy series Seinfeld entitled "The Summer of George" Welch played a highly temperamental version of herself, assaulting series stars Kramer and Elaine, the former because he fired her from an acting job and the latter because Welch mistakenly thought that Elaine was mocking her. * he has been married to James Welch (1959-1962), publicist and agent; Patrick Curtis (1967-1972), director/producer Andre Weinfeld (1980-1990); and Richard Palmer (1999). * She is the mother of Damon Welch and actress Tahnee Welch. * She is a fan of Chelsea FC, or was "in the '70s" Quote
Qball Posted June 23, 2007 Posted June 23, 2007 Nice thread start, man. I'm quite surprised there hasn't been a thread for her already. She is a beautiful woman - just look at her pics when she was young. Quote
kevinp69 Posted February 15, 2008 Posted February 15, 2008 Beautiful Raquel in the 1960's She sure had a great figure/nice ass/good cleavage and nice legs One of the sexiest women sex symbols then and Raquel still looks good now at 67 Gorgeous Raquel is one of my favourite beauties (then and now) btw Raquel had 2 children by the time these 60's pics were taken (so she was an original MILF/yum mum) One child Tahnee was also an actress and born in 1960 (when Raquel was 20) - wit-a-woo mummy in these pix! [attachm nt=413379:rwelch0371cc.jpg] [attachm nt=413384:rwelch1035tb.jpg] nice pair of legs close up (bare foot/in heels) Quote
miss Posted March 4, 2008 Posted March 4, 2008 Nice thread start, man. I'm quite surprised there hasn't been a thread for her already. She is a beautiful woman - just look at her pics when she was young. Quote
CarMELita Posted March 16, 2008 Posted March 16, 2008 Raquel Welch wearing a chiffon and gold lame blouson with dyed fox collar and cuffs by Valentino, 1972 source: Livejournal, vintagephoto Quote
Korravai Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 it seems like (back in the 50s, through 70s) actresses were prettier than models. what do you think? Quote
avoir_fot Posted March 27, 2008 Posted March 27, 2008 it seems like (back in the 50s, through 70s) actresses were prettier than models. what do you think? Quote
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