In remembrance of Raquel Welch.

 Photo 254432831 / Raquel Welch © Laurence Agron | Dreamstime.com

Jo Raquel Welch (née Tejada): September 5, 1940 – February 15, 2023

On Wednesday, February 15, 2023, Jo Raquel Welch (née Tejada) passed peacefully at age 82 in her home in Los Angeles, following an illness. She was born in Chicago, Illinois and her family moved to San Diego when she was very young at the age of 2 years old. She went on to take ballet classes in school  until she was 7 years old, and was interested in going on to becoming an performer and entertainer.

During the Vietnam War, Raquel showed her support for the United Service Organizations (USO) troops at shows, often appearing with Bob Hope. Her looks and fame led Playboy Magazine to issue status of being “Most Desired Woman” of the 1970’s. She eventually went on to be one of only a handful of actresses to be featured without any total nudity in a 1979 issue. Raquel went on to coming out the 1987 hardcover book “Raquel: The Raquel Welch Total Beauty and Fitness Program” supporting a lifestyle of great living through being fit and trim, and offering her exercise program. She was also named in 1995 as one of “The 100 Sexiest Stars in Film History” by Playboy Magazine, ranking in at #3. She completed at least 35 films in her movie career, and did at least 50 television shows in her TV career. She was one of three featured poster girls (never appearing in person) in the 1994 Frank Darabont movie “Shawshank Redemption” based off the Stephen King novella “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” The posters were allowed to be hung in the prison cell of Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), who is sentenced to life in Shawshank State Penitentiary. The three featured girls started with Rita Heyworth, then Marilyn Monroe, then finally the poster of Raquel: a character from her movie One Million Years B.C., as the stunning cavewoman–the one that the prison warden threw the rock through after Andy skillfully and slowly carved a hole large enough to escape throughout the years of being imprisoned.

She had a modest and illustrious career throughout her whole life, with a vast array of different angles from play acting to movies and also a lot of television. She became quite the star of Hollywood, and her star on Hollywood Boulevard is featured at the bottom of this post. She had a great amount of awards in her acting career, including 6 wins and 10 nominations of which the list is included below. Raquel will be missed by many, and my prayers go to all the people who she touched and her family and friends abroad.

Showing all 6 wins and 10 nominations:

Photo 18992694 / Raquel Welch © Juan Camilo Bernal | Dreamstime.com

Remembering Raquel Welch – 1940-2023