Va-Va-Voom: Raquel Welch’s Enduring Legacy As A Bombshell, Femme Fatale, And Rare Symbol Of Iconic Beauty

Throughout the history of the entertainment industry, there have been countless sex symbols and starlets who have left an indelible mark on society and culture. From Marilyn Monroe to Jane Fonda and Sophia Loren, Raquel Welch possessed a different kind of female influence.

On September 5, 1940, Jo Raquel Tejada was born in Chicago, Illinois. Her mother, Josephine Sarah Hall, attended the University of Illinois. She was raising three children while balancing her studies and career.

Raquel always knew, even before adulthood, that she was destined for greatness. It helped that she had many advantages, such as a charismatic and energetic personality. She was undeniably magnetic and a hard worker. Also, she attended many dancing lessons.

Raquel Welch grew up in the United States and was fairly American in every way possible. But, her father’s international heritage added to her American identity. He was a Spanish emigrant who came to Bolivia and then America.

It’s no surprise that Raquel was more than popular with the gentlemen that surrounded her. Raquel’s natural good looks and pleasant demeanor lent her to have her pick of men. The one that she chose was her high-school sweetheart, James Welch, who captured her heart.

Raquel Welch was at the height of her celebrity career during the hedonistic times of the sixties. There were parties always happening and wild behavior everywhere. But, many may be surprised to know that she was a dedicated, hardworking mother of two kids.

While everything seemed to be going well in the late fifties and sixties for Raquel, she didn’t have a perfect life. Yes – her career was skyrocketing, and she seemed to have a wonderful marriage and a young family. 

During the period of divorce, Raquel began to think about what she truly wanted and aspired to be in her life. As a divorced mother of three children, she still had time in the years ahead to seize the opportunities that would come her way.

Raquel was ready to leave her waitressing job and Dallas behind. Deep down, she knew that she had more to offer than only working as a waitress, booking the occasional modeling gig, and taking care of her kids. Hollywood was calling her and Raquel was ready to answer.

When she touched down in Los Angeles, Raquel wasted no time before taking her first steps. In 1963, she traveled halfway across the country to California, ready to make herself a star. First, she needed to make connections with the members of the showbiz industry.

Meeting Curtis was one of the best things Raquel could have done for her career. Hollywood isn’t only glitz, glam, and fun, it takes extreme work to get ahead and make something of yourself. With Curtis by her side, Raquel’s connections spread.

As Raquel began to gain more recognition, she was still using her family name. She started to be pressured from the inside to change it to be more American-sounding. In her beststelling 2010 memoir Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage, she described that her familial name was too exotic and ethnic, and too hard to pronounce

The increasing pressure from the industry didn’t phase Raquel and she refused to change herself to please others. She admired her Latin roots and wanted to keep honoring that side of herself, even if she didn’t speak much Spanish.

With the famous bikini photo in Life and her industry connections, all of the exposure she was receiving helped her gain more attention in Hollywood. She landed her first role on the ABC series Hollywood Palace rather quickly. Being gifted with head-turning looks and a classy persona only added to her uniqueness.

Around the same time that she was on Hollywood Palace, Raquel also made other appearances. She was in the Elvis Presley movie Roustabout and Do Not Disturb. Soon enough, her roles were becoming bigger and bigger.

After her role in A Swingin’ Summer, all eyes were on the burgeoning starlet. Hollywood executives were taking notice and one particular company gave her a once-in-a-lifetime shot.

With her promising career in full swing, Raquel got to work with 20th Century Fox. Without hesitation, they cast her in the science fiction film Fantastic Voyage. The movie was a smash hit and launched Raquel to massive stardom. Thus, a lasting and prolific career seemed to be inevitable for her.

Regardless of the incredible showing in Raquel’s first feature film starring role, Fox decided to get her out of the States and send her to England. They contracted her with Hammer, the British film studio. While Welch was making a prominent name for herself in the United States, it was quite a surprise that she was traded like a sports athlete to a different studio.

Raquel had no clue that she was going to turn into a phenomenon of the pop-culture world. Even though she might have not liked being sent to Hammer instead of starring in Fox films, her first major role for the B-movie studio changed her life. It was the 1967 prehistoric fantasy movie One Million Years B.C. that put her on the map.

Raquel’s impeccable figure, her unmatched style and the revealing fur bikini is what truly made the One Million Years B.C. poster. It also became one of the highest-selling movie posters in history. In addition, the movie was also a moderate success.

Raquel had one person, in particular, to thank for her phenomenal at this point. That person was Patrick Curtis, her manager who helped her land all of the perfect roles and other work that catapulted her to fame and fortune. Curtis was more than just a manager – he and Raquel also shared romantic feelings for each other.

Raquel wasn’t about to put her career on the back burner just because her business partner had become her partner for life. Her romantic life was important, but her career ambitions took more precedence. In 1968, she appeared in another iconic film role called Bedazzled, in which she played a saucy and seductive villain.

Unfortunately, another divorce was in the cards for Raquel. As the tabloids were keeping track of her every move, they were waiting for any juicy gossip. Her strong relationship with Curtis was simmering down, and, in 1972, they announced their separation. In those days, Hollywood relationships wouldn’t last long. Raquel was onto the next.

It’s no doubt that aside from Raquel’s charm and talent, her beauty and attractive figure made her appealing to people all over the globe. In 1979, she made her Playboy debut, but she refused to bare all.

Just as Welch didn’t give up her career dreams, she also didn’t give up on finding the right guy. She put that idea into practice and met another lucky guy, a movie producer named André Weinfeld. It takes a lot of audacity and courage to put yourself out there after two failed marriages, but the third time was the charm for Raquel

Weinfeld has shared that his marriage to Raquel was a happy one. Sadly, geographical distances drove them apart. Although they enjoyed their time together, they separated after ten years of marriage. That didn’t stop Raquel.

Although, on a smaller level, Raquel continued to dominate television screens. She also decided to take another gamble with a fourth marriage. Raquel got married to Richard Palmer, owner of a famous pizzeria chain in Los Angeles, in 1999.

Raquel has been up-front about not wanting to become a pin-up girl, but she never regretted the fateful direction her career took. She also shared that she knew she wouldn’t get all the roles she was vying for due to her “exotic” looks. Her career was long-lasting and consisted of countless incredible moments. Remarkably, she never let anybody get her down or push her around.

Undoubtedly, Raquel was one of the most flawlessly gorgeous female figures in the entertainment industry. In 1995, Empire magazine even voted her as one of the sexiest stars in film history. And, she was also voted into the top twenty at number eighteen.

Her timeless beauty wasn’t the only important element of her career that made her a success, it was her acting skills, as well. In 1974, she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical or Comedy for The Three Musketeers. She also received another Golden Globe Award in 1987 for her role in Right to Die.