Jo Raquel Tejada (born September 5, 1940), best known by her stage name...(More)

Jo Raquel Tejada (born September 5, 1940), best known by her stage name Raquel Welch, is an American actress who reached fame during the 1960s. Early life Welch was born in Chicago, Illinois, the oldest of three children born to Armando Carlos Tejada Urquizo and Josephine Sarah Hall. Her father, who immigrated from La Paz, Bolivia, was an aerospace engineer of Spanish-Castilian descent; her mother was an Irish-American.[1] In 1942, Armando Tejada was transferred to San Diego, California. The family moved to the suburb 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. After attending La Jolla High School, she entered San Diego State College on a theater arts scholarship. The following year she married a high school sweetheart, James Welch. [edit] 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. Raquel Welch as Loana in One Million Years B.C. (1966) 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 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. She 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, The Hollywood Palace, and The Virginian. She auditioned for the part of "Mary Ann" on Gilligan's Island but lost out to Dawn Wells.[citation needed] Welch's first featured role was in A Swingin' Summer, which led to a contract with 20th Century Fox. She was then cast in the Sci-fi hit Fantastic Voyage (1966), which finally made her a star. On loan out to Hammer Studios in Britain, Welch starred in the remake of One Million Years B.C.. After her appearance as Lust incarnate in the hit Bedazzled, she returned to the United States and appeared in a Western with James Stewart and Dean Martin titled Bandolero!, which was followed by Lady in Cement with Frank Sinatra. Myra Breckinridge (1970) Welch's first real starring role was in Myra Breckinridge with Mae West. She took the role 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, where she was clad in a furry animal-skin bikini for One Million Years B.C., became a bestselling poster. Playboy called her the "Most Desired Woman" of the 1970s. Ironically, despite her iconic sex symbol status, having acted in numerous films and been subject of countless magazine layouts, including Playboy, Welch has never appeared or posed nude. Welch was due to star in the 1982 adaptation of Cannery Row, but was fired by the producers only 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. Her television appearances include the series The Hollywood Palace, the made for TV movies The Legend of Walks Far Woman and Right to Die, in which she turned in a stirring performance as a woman with Lou Gehrig's disease, and in the PBS series American Family, about a Mexican American family in East Los Angeles. She has also appeared in the night time soap opera Central Park West and made infomercials and exercise videos. While she never appeared on the show, her name was frequently used as an all-purpose answer on the game show Match Game. In 1987, she flirted with a pop singing career, releasing the dance single This Girl's Back In Town. She has also performed in a nightclub act in Las Vegas and has starred on Broadway in Woman of the Year and in Victor/Victoria, replacing Julie Andrews. In a 1997 episode of the comedy series Seinfeld entitled "The Summer of George" Welch played a highly temperamental version of herself, assaulting series stars 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. On July 18, 2007 Liz Smith reported that Welch has been invited to play Eva Longoria's sexy aunt on Desperate Housewives.[2] [edit] 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 experienced great 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. 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. [edit] Latin American status Her professional name, Raquel Welch, served as protection against discrimination in Hollywood.[citation needed] Many other stars did the same in times prior to the 1990s. The names included people like Rita Hayworth. With the recent attention and acceptance by the American public of people of Latin descent, she has been coming out and reminding people of her Hispanic heritage.[citation needed] On July 18, 2007 Liz Smith reported that Welch is proud of her Bolivian roots.[2] [edit] Personal life She has been married to James Welch (1959-1962), publicist and agent; Patrick Curtis (1967-1972), director/producer Andre Weinfeld (1980-1990); and Richard Palmer (1999). She is the mother of Damon Welch (b.November 6,1959) and actress Tahnee Welch (b.December 26,1961). She is a fan of Chelsea FC, or was "in the '70s".[3] During the 70s, she attempted to date shock rocker Alice Cooper. He attempted to avoid her since he was dating a dancer that would become his wife [edit] Achievements and awards In 1974, Raquel 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 was also the recipient of the Golden Turkey Award for worst actress. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. [edit] Trivia Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. Raquel Welch is a relative of the only female president of Bolivia, Lydia Gueiler Tejada. Raquel Welch's son, Damon Welch, married Rebecca Trueman, the daughter of cricketing legend Fred Trueman, a union of the acting and sporting worlds but the marriage was short-lived. Raquel Welch arrived at the wedding after the bride, completely upstaging her. She claimed at the time that her lateness was because she had been giving an interview and lost track of the time, but later she admitted that she had done it on purpose, knowing that the press would write about her, so she planned to give them something to write about. When the couple announced they were splitting up in Hello!, they emphatically denied that the split was anything to do with Welch. Raquel Welch's daughter, Tahnee Welch followed her mother's December 1979 example and appeared on the cover of Playboy, the November 1995 issue. Raquel's publicity poster for the movie One Million Years B.C. played an integral role in the film The Shawshank Redemption, by serving to hide the tunnel Andy Dufresne was digging to escape from Shawshank (Less)