Raquel Welch Cause of Death, Revealed

Raquel Welch, a veteran actress who became famous in the 1960s for her roles in 'One Million Years BC' and 'Fantastic Voyage,' has passed away, according to a statement released by her manager, Steve Sauer. She was 82 years old.

Welch passed away Wednesday morning in Los Angeles following a "brief illness," according to the announcement.

Who is Raquel Welch?

The actress, with more than 70 film and television credits, got her start as a spokesmodel on a variety show, 'Hollywood Palace,' and had a brief appearance in the Elvis Presley film 'Roustabout' in 1964.

Her career took off two years later, with the release of the science fiction film 'Fantastic Voyage,' about a team of scientists shrunk and injected into a critically ill man's body, and 'One Million Years, BC,' a prehistoric drama that cast Welch as the cavewoman Loana, with the photos of her in a fur bikini becoming the basis of the movie's marketing campaign, while turning Welch into an international sex symbol.

Welch's career in TV and cinema spans decades. In the late 1960s, Welch starred in several films, including the westerns 'Bandolero!' and '100 Rifles,' the latter of which was renowned for its contentious interracial love scene with former football player Jim Brown.

Following the success of 'Fantastic Voyage' and 'One Million Years, BC' in 1967, Welch as Lilian Lust in 'Bedazzled,' a film that was recreated in 2000 with Elizabeth Hurley and Brendan Fraser in the lead roles.

The Chicago-born actress portrayed Constance de Bonacieux in 'The Three Musketeers' in 1973. Welch earned a best actress Golden Globe award for her portrayal and returned her role as de Bonacieux in the 1974 sequel 'The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge.'

Other significant appearances for Welch include the eponymous part in 1970's 'Myra Breckinridge,' in which she played a trans actress. In the 1990s, Welch participated in several comedies, including 'Seinfeld,' in which she portrayed herself as a homage to her status as a renowned diva. Welch also starred in 'Spin City,' 'Evening Shade, ' 'Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.'

At the beginning of the century, Welch's iconic roles persisted. The Hollywood classic co-starred with Reese Witherspoon in the 2001 film 'Legally Blond' as Mrs. Windham Vandermark, the ex-wife of the late Hayworth Windermark, whose murder Elle Woods attempts to uncover.

As momentum continued to build for Raquel Welch, the "sex symbol" tag also persisted. Welch's final professional role was as Rosa, the mother-in-law of a single father, in the 2017 UPtv series 'Date My Dad.' Welch devoted attention to her entrepreneurial endeavors, which included jewelry, skincare, and wig lines. According to a statement released by her management, the actress leaves behind her two children, Damon Welch and Tahnee Welch.

Raquel Welch Death

On the morning of February 15, 2023, Welch passed away. According to the US Sun, Welch had four marriages, but none of them lasted, and she remained single at the time of her death.

According to the Sun, she had two children with her high school sweetheart and first husband, James Welch. After their divorce, she married producers Patrick Curtis and Andre Weinfeld, both of which ended in divorce, according to The Sun. Richard Palmer was her last marriage, and they, too, divorced.

Raquel Welch stated that her fame and the attention she got led to the failure of her marriages. Her IMDb page indicates that Raquel Welch was born in Chicago, Illinois, as Jo Raquel Tejada. According to the biography, she is arguably best known for the poster showing her wearing a prehistoric bikini for the 1966 film 'One Million Years BC,' which was the "biggest-selling pin-up poster of the time."

ABC News reprinted the chapter from Welch's book 'Beyond the Cleavage' in which she describes the incident. According to IMDb, her parents were Bolivian aerospace engineer Armando Carlos Tejada and his Irish-American wife, Josephine Sarah Hall. According to Celebrity Net Worth, her estimated net worth is $40 million.

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