Legendary bombshell Raquel Welch, who became a global icon almost overnight following her small but memorable role in the 1966 fantasy film “One Million Years B.C.,” died Wednesday. She was 82.
During a career that spanned more than five decades, her roles ranged from a transgender woman in Michael Sarne’s 1970 adaptation of Gore Vidal’s satirical novel “Myra Breckinridge” to the gritty 1972 roller derby movie “Kansas City Bomber” to her Golden Globe-winning performance in the star-studded 1973 comedy “The Three Musketeers.”
Here’s a look at Raquel Welch’s life and career in photos.
Reese Witherspoon, Chris Meloni and Sandra Bernhard are among the many honoring Hollywood legend Raquel Welch, who died Wednesday at age 82.
Raquel Welch during promotion of her book “Beyond the Cleavage,” photographed at her home on March 25, 2010.
(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)
Michael Richards as Kramer and Raquel Welch as herself in an episode of “Seinfeld” from 1997.
(Chris Haston / NBC)
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Raquel Welch arrives at the 2013 Women in Film pre-Emmy event at Scarpetta at the Montage hotel in Beverly Hills.
(Matt Sayles / Invision via Associated Press)
Raquel Welch throws up her hands in dismay as it begins to rain as she looks at the London skyline during a party held at the London’s Dorchester hotel in April 1969.
From ‘Fantastic Voyage’ to ‘How to Be a Latin Lover,’ here’s how you can find some of Raquel Welch’s best movie performances.
Raquel Welch stands over people sleeping on the ground in a movie still from Stanley Donen’s 1967 British comedy “Bedazzled.”
(Bettmann Archive cie Getty Images)
Raquel Welch touches the beard Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni was growing for his role in the film “Shoot Loud, Louder ... I Don’t Understand,” which was shot in Rome in 1966.
(Mario Torrisi / Associated Press)
Raquel Welch, starring in Broadway’s “Woman of the Year,” poses with sailors from the ship Saipan and other servicemen on July 3, 1982, in New York.
(David Handschuh / Associated Press)
Raquel Welch appears during a rehearsal for the Broadway show “Woman of the Year,” with Ed Nolfi, left, Sterling Clark and Paul Bogaev in 1981.
(Angel Franco / Associated Press)
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Raquel Welch in a publicity portrait for the 1966 film “One Million Years B.C.”
(20th Century-Fox / Getty Images)
Raquel Welch as Loana and John Richardson as Turak in “One Million Years B.C.,” directed by Don Chaffey.
(Silver Screen Collection / Getty Images)
Raquel Welch in costume as Cora on the set of Richard Fleischer’s “Fantastic Voyage” in 1966.
(Silver Screen Collection / Getty Images)
Raquel Welch and British actor Michael York in Richard Lester’s 1973 adaptation of “The Three Musketeers.”
(Sunset Boulevard / Corbis via Getty Images)
A photo of Raquel Welch in the title role of “Hannie Caulder” (1971), directed by Burt Kennedy.
(Silver Screen Collection / Getty Images)
Raquel Welch in a scene from the 1970 movie “Myra Breckinridge.”
(Screen Archives / Getty Images)
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Raquel Welch and Ringo Starr in the 1969 satirical black comedy “The Magic Christian.”
Maane Khatchatourian is a deputy editor for Entertainment and Arts. Before joining The Times in 2022, she spent almost 10 years at Variety as a news editor. Her writing has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, KCET.org and the Glendale News-Press. Born in Armenia and raised in Glendale, she studied communication, art history and sociocultural linguistics at UC Santa Barbara and journalism at Columbia University.