From a young age, her impeccable looks landed her several times on the podiums of beauty contests. They also undoubtedly helped her to cross the thresholds of Hollywood studios. She appeared in about 40 films over her career, sometimes directed by such great talents as Richard Fleischer, Stanley Donen and Edward Dmytryk. The films were not enough, however, to free her from her principal image of being one of the world's most beautiful women.
Raquel Welch, whose beauty was systematically emphasized over her acting, died in Los Angeles Wednesday, February 15, "peacefully early this morning after a brief illness," according to a statement sent to AFP by her manager. The American film star of the 1960s and 1970s was 82.
Born on September 5, 1940, in Chicago, Illinois, to a Brazilian aeronautical engineer father and an American mother, Jo Raquel Tejada took dance and acting classes from a very young age. She was in her last year of high school when, in 1957, she entered and won the Miss Fairest of the Fair contest in San Diego, California, the first of many. Two years later, she married James Welch and took his name. At the time, she was working as a model and began to get small film roles. The producer Patrick Curtis spotted her and wanted to launch her career. Welch appears alongside Elvis Presley in Roustabout by John Rich (1964) and then in her first science fiction film, The Fantastic Voyage by Richard Fleischer (1966), where she was cast as a member of a miniaturized crew responsible for exploring the human body, a role that brought her some exposure.
Sex symbol
However, it was with One Million Years BC by Don Chaffrey (1966) that Welch imposed herself as a sex symbol, clad in a shredded animal fur bra and skirt that she wore throughout the film. Her acting was not remarkable but neither was that of the other actors (John Richardson, Percy Herbert). The film is set in hostile prehistoric times among mostly mute and brutish characters. Welch featured prominently on the film's posters, feeding fantasies and imposing herself as a new rival for Ursula Andress, whose bathing suit in Dr No (1962) was quickly forgotten in view of Welch's furry getup.
Welch went on to appear in one film after the other over 40 years of cinematic history, never finding a role allowing her to really distinguish herself. Nevertheless, she adapted to all genres, always at ease and without making a fuss, whether she worked in westerns (Bandolero! by Andrew V. McLaglen, 1968; 100 Rifles by Tom Gries, 1969), whodunnits (Lady in Cement by Gordon Douglas, 1968), thrillers (Flareup by James Neilson, 1971), gangster films (The Biggest Bundle of Them All by Ken Annakin, 1968) or comedies (Animal by Claude Zidi, 1977). In 1970, she dares to play the role of a character who has changed sex in Myra Breckinridge, by Michael Sarne, a feature-length adaption of the book of the same name by US novelist Gore Vidal and a film that caused controversy upon its release.
Golden Globe for best actress
Directed by Richard Lester and facing a pernicious Milady (Faye Dunaway), she interpreted a delightful Constance Bonacieux in The Three Musketeers (1973). Her interpretation of Dumas' character earned her a Golden Globe for best actress. She played the same role with the same director the following year in The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge. Nevertheless, it was James Ivory who in The Wild Party (1975) gave Welch the opportunity to reveal her acting talent. Inspired by the legendary Hollywood career of actor Fatty Arbuckle who descended into scandal and opprobrium, the director chronicles the decline of a star at the dawn of talkies. A decadent environment, passion gone wrong, and absolute savagery provided Welch with a more creative set.
Married four times and a mother of two, Welch acted until 2017 in cinema and television productions, appearing in about 40 films and series. Like Jane Fonda, she also produced numerous fitness videos and wrote an autobiographical book, Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage (Weinstein Books, 2010) in which she said she regretted never having been known for more than her beauty.