Raquel Welch, the big-screen star of the 1960s and ’70s who gained famed in movies including Fantastic Voyage, One Million Years B.C., Myra Breckinridge and many others, died today after a brief illness.
She was 82. Her death was confirmed by her reps at Media 4 Management. RELATED: Raquel Welch: A Career In Photos Her career spanned more than 50 years, 30 films and 50 TV series and appearances.
Born Jo Raquel Tejada on September 5, 1940, in Chicago, Welch’s family moved to San Diego when she was a toddler. She attended San Diego State on a theater arts scholarship and got her start as a local TV weathercaster before starting to land guest roles on such classics TV series as McHale’s Navy, Bewitched, The Virginian and others.
Her breakout role came as Cora in the wild 1966 sci-fi pic Fantastic Voyage, opposite Stephen Boyd, Edmund O’Brien and Arthur Kennedy.
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