Raquel Welch

Raquel Welch
Raquel welch.jpg
Welch at the premiere of Bette Midler's movie, The Rose, 1979
Born Jo Raquel Tejada
September 5, 1940 (1940-09-05) (age 69)
Chicago, Illinois,
United States
Spouse(s) James Westley Welch (1959–1964)
Patrick Curtis (1967–1972)
Andre Weinfeld (1980–1990)
Richard Palmer (1999–present)

Raquel Welch (born September 5, 1940) is a Golden Globe winning, American actress.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Welch was born Jo Raquel Tejada in Chicago, Illinois, the oldest of three children and the daughter of Josephine Sarah (née Hall) and Armando Carlos Tejada Urquizo.[1] Her father immigrated from La Paz, Bolivia, her mother was an Irish-American.[2]

In 1942, Armando Tejada was transferred to San Diego, California. The family settled in the community 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, and won the Maid of California 1957 title, at the California State Fair. After attending La Jolla High School (Class of 1958), she entered San Diego State College on a theater arts scholarship. The following year she married a high school sweetheart, James Welch.

Career

In 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 and Bob Biloe.

She became a weather forecaster at KFMB, 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, Damon and Latanne, 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 and 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, and The Virginian, as well as on the weekly variety series The Hollywood Palace as a billboard girl and presenter of acts.

Welch's first featured role came in the beach film A Swingin' Summer, which led to a contract with 20th Century Fox. She was subsequently cast in a leading role in the sci-fi hit Fantastic Voyage (1966), which made her a star. She was the last star created under the studio system.

On loan out to Hammer Studios in Britain, Welch starred in the remake of One Million Years B.C. striking an iconic pose in a prehistoric animal-skin bikini, a poster of her from the film appeared the 1994 motion picture The Shawshank Redemption. After her appearance as lust incarnate in the hit Bedazzled, she returned to the U.S. and appeared in the Western film Bandolero!, with James Stewart and Dean Martin, which was followed by the private-eye drama "Lady in Cement" with Frank Sinatra.

Welch's most controversial role by far came in the notorious Myra Breckinridge with Mae West. She took the part 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.

Welch became one of the leading sex symbols of the 1960s and 1970s. Her most memorable publicity still for One Million Years B.C. became a bestselling poster. Playboy called her the "Most Desired Woman" of the 1970s. Despite her sex symbol persona in films and countless magazine layouts, including one for Playboy, Welch never appeared nude in a film or posed nude for a magazine.

In 1970, Welch teamed up with Tom Jones and producer/choreographer David Winters of Winters-Rosen Productions[3] for the TV special "Raquel!". Considered by some viewers to be a classic 1970s timepiece, pairing together pop-culture icons in their prime. The multi million-dollar TV song-and-dance extravaganza was filmed around the world, from Paris to Mexico. Lavish production numbers of classic songs from the era, extravagant costumes, and notable guest performances, including John Wayne and Bob Hope in the Wild West. Welch and Jones, two of the 1970s biggest stars, made it an indispensable time capsule full of glamor, wit, and talent.

The actress was due to star in an 1982 adaptation of John Steinbeck's Cannery Row, but was fired by the producers a few days into production (allegedly, she was taking too long to get ready each day). She was replaced with Debra Winger. Welch successfully sued, collecting a multi-million dollar award, but this effectively ended her film acting career until the mid-1990s.

In addition to her break out special, Raquel!, her television appearances include the TV movies The Legend of Walks Far Woman and Right to Die in which she turned in a stirring performance as a woman stricken with Lou Gehrig's disease, and in the PBS series American Family, about a Mexican American family in East Los Angeles. She has appeared in the night-time soap opera Central Park West and made infomercials and exercise videos.

In 1987, she flirted with a pop singing career, releasing the dance single "This Girl's Back In Town." She has performed in a one-woman nightclub musical act in Las Vegas and has starred on Broadway in Woman of the Year, receiving praise for following Lauren Bacall in the title role, and in Victor/Victoria, having less success following Julie Andrews and Liza Minnelli in the title roles.

In a 1997 episode of the comedy series Seinfeld entitled The Summer of George, Welch played a highly temperamental version of herself, assaulting series characters 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.

She also appeared as a guest on the popular American TV series Sabrina the Teenage Witch, as Sabrina's flamboyant Aunt Vesta.

She joined the cast of Welcome to the Captain, which premiered on CBS television on February 4, 2008.

Beauty business career

The Raquel Welch Total Beauty and Fitness Program was published in 1984. The book, written by Welch herself, includes a Hatha Yoga fitness program, her views on healthy living/nutrition, as well as beauty and personal style. As a businesswoman, Welch has had success with her signature line of wigs. She also began a jewelry and skincare line although neither of those ventures compared to the success of her wig collection, the Raquel Welch Signature Wig Collection from HAIRuWEAR.

On May 16, 2004, Raquel Welch joined thousands of men, women, and children at the 32nd annual Walk and Roll fundraiser in her hometown of Chicago, IL. Raquel was on hand to lend her support to those gathered to raise money for the fight against cancer.

During the opening ceremony, Raquel shared the story of her own cousin's fight with the disease. Her cousin had lost much of her hair as a result of chemotherapy and asked Raquel for some wigs. Soon after receiving them, her cousin called to tell Raquel how wonderful wearing the wigs made her feel. Upon hearing this, Raquel realized that her company, the Raquel Welch Signature Wig Collection, could bring similar happiness into the lives of women undergoing hair loss due to cancer treatment. That, she explained, is why her company donated over 6,500 wigs in 2003 to the American Cancer Society.

Before cutting the ribbon to begin the Walk and Roll, Raquel had the honor of meeting some of the women who have received wigs from the donation. It was an emotional meeting for the women and Raquel.

The Walk and Roll is an annual fundraiser for walkers, cyclists, and skaters in the Chicago area and has raised over $11 million dollars for cancer research over the last 32 years.

In January 2007, she was revealed as the newest face of MAC Cosmetics Beauty Icon series. Her line features several limited edition makeup shades in glossy black and tiger print packaging.[4]

Personal life

Welch has been married to

Welch was linked romantically to shock rock pioneer Alice Cooper in the mid '70s. Cooper left Welch for his current wife of over 30 years, Sheryl.

She is the mother of Damon James Welch (b. November 6, 1959) and actress Tahnee Welch (born Latanne Rene Welch, December 26, 1961). Tahnee followed her mother's December 1979 example and appeared on the cover of Playboy in the November 1995 issue.[6] Damon married Rebecca Trueman, the daughter of cricketing legend Fred Trueman, but the marriage was short-lived.

Welch is a fan of the British football club Chelsea FC, or was "in the '70s".[7]

Raquel Castro was named after Welch.

Achievements and awards

In 1974, Welch won a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical or Comedy for The Three Musketeers. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in the TV drama Right to Die (1987).

She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.

Filmography

Television work

References

  1. ↑ Raquel Welch Biography (1940-). Film Reference.com.
  2. ↑ Sandra Márquez "Becoming Raquel" Hispanic Online, April 2003
  3. ↑ Brown, Les (1971) [1971]. "Raquel!". Television: The Business Behind the Box. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. pp. pp187,188. ISBN 9780156884402. 
  4. ↑ Pittilla, Mary Jane (2007-02-02). "Raquel Welch becomes MAC beauty icon". Retrieved on 2008-03-19. 
  5. ↑ Andrews, Emily (2008-02-15). "Stunning at 67: Sixties sex siren Raquel Welch returns to TV", Daily Mail. Retrieved on 2008-03-19. 
  6. ↑ D'Orazio, Sante (November 1995), , 'Playboy' (U.S.) 42 (11): 74–81 
  7. ↑ Celebrity Fans Chelsea Football Club Official Site

External links

Persondata
NAME Welch, Raquel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tejada, Jo Raquel
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actress
DATE OF BIRTH September 5, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago, Illinois, United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH