Raquel Welch

After graduating from school in 1958, Raquel got pregnant and married her high school sweetheart James Welch a year later, on 8th May 1959. She gave birth to their first child, Damon Welch. The couple had another child, a daughter named Latanne Welch in 1961.

The couple separated in 1962 and divorced in 1964 due to unknown reasons and differences. In a number of interviews, Raquel has expressed her regret for running hastily from her marriage to James Welch and that she should have tried harder to make the marriage work. She has often said that James Welch was the best of her four husbands.

In 1966, she married producer Patrick Curtis. The couple divorced in 1972. In later interviews, she has described Patrick Curtis as a svengal and has described their relationship as unhappy, in which she felt extremely manipulated.

Raquel Welch was born Jo Raquel Tejada on September 5, 1940 at Chicago, Illinois. Her father was a Bolivian aeronautical engineer, Armando Tejada Urquizo and her mother was Irish American, Josephine Sarah.

They moved to San Diego, California, when Raquel was just about two. She attended and subsequently graduated from La Jolla High School in California. Her parents divorced later.

She also started winning local pageants including the title of Miss Photogenic and Miss Contour at the age of 14. While attending school, she was crowned ‘Miss Fairest of the Fair’ in the San Diego County Fair.

She initially wanted to be a ballerina, but gave up when her trainer told her that she did not have the right body for ballet.

Raquel’s first major film was ‘A Swingin’ Summer’ where she played the role of Jeri. The movie was a comedy and she also made her singing debut with it. A year after that, she starred in her second major film, the 1966 science fiction ‘Fantastic Voyage’.

In 1966, she appeared in the adventure/fantasy film ‘One Million Years B.C.’ She appeared as the lead in the film which was set in a fictional age of cavemen and dinosaurs. This role proved to be a life changer for Raquel and established her as the American sex symbol of the 1960s and 1970s.

She starred in the 1967 British spy film ‘Fathom’. She played the lead role of Fathom Harvill, a skydiver who recovers an atomic triggering mechanism.

In the next few years, she was cast in major projects including one alongside Robert Wagner in the 1968 crime film, ‘The Biggest Bundle of Them All’ and in films like ‘Bedazzled’, ‘Lady in Cement’, ‘Flareup’, and ‘Bandolero!’.

The 1970 film, ‘The Beloved (a.k.a. Sin)’ starred Raquel as a beautiful but frustrated housewife who starts an affair and then plans her husband’s murder. In the same year, she was cast in and as ‘Myra Breckinridge’, a comedy film based on Gore Vidal’s novel of the same name. During this period, she played a series of versatile roles which garnered her positive attention from the audience.

Apart from her work on screen, Raquel appeared on Broadway in ‘Victor/Victoria’ and ‘Woman of the Year’ in 1997 to 1982.

She was the face of Lux Soaps, Foster Grant sunglasses, and her line of signature wigs collection and HAIRuWEAR extensions.

Raquel also launched a Beauty and Fitness Program book and yoga videos. She also has her own jewelry and skincare line.

Welch released a dance single ‘This Girl’s Back in Town.’

In 2010, Raquel also published her autobiography titled ‘Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage.’