Passage: Remembering Raquel Welch

She was the essence of style, sex appeal, and Hollywood glamour.  Actress Raquel Welch died Wednesday, after a brief illness, at the age of 82.

Born in Chicago to a Bolivian-born father and English-American mother, Welch began performing at age seven after the family moved to California.  By 19, she was on television, reporting the weather at a local TV station.

Her big Hollywood break came in 1966 with the sci-fi thriller “Fantastic Voyage.” But what guaranteed her fame was the film “One Million Years B.C.” forever captured in a classic poster.

Never a darling of the critics, Welch finally found acclaim in 1975, winning a Golden Globe for her role in “The Three Musketeers.” Which is not to say that Raquel Welch was strictly serious, as when she appeared, as herself, in a classic episode of “Seinfeld.”

In 1998 Playboy Magazine named Raquel Welch the third sexiest female star of the 20th century, along with Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield.

Welch was married and divorced four times, and last appeared in a movie at the age of 77, her legacy long established … a legacy that included her staunch refusal to do nude scenes in any of the more than 30 films and 50 TV shows she appeared in, during her half-century career.

“Style,” she once said, “has to have substance.”  And Raquel Welch had both.

Story produced by Jon Carras. Editor: Ed Givnish.