The actress, who shot to fame for her 1966 roles in 'Fantastic Voyage' and 'One Million Years B.C.', passed away at the age of 82 on Wednesday morning, February 15.
- Feb 16, 2023
AceShowbiz - Raquel Welch has sadly passed away. The "One Million Years B.C." actress and former sex symbol died on Wednesday, February 15 following a brief illness. She was 82.
Confirming the sad news was Raquel's manager, Steve Saurer, who told PEOPLE, "[She passed away peacefully early this morning after a brief illness." The manager, however, didn't offer more specific details surrounding her death.
Raquel shot to fame for her 1966 roles in "Fantastic Voyage" and "One Million Years B.C." In the latter film movie, she appeared in a skimpy deerskin bikini that led her to have sex symbol status.
Raquel once divulged that she "almost died" working on the film because she developed tonsillitis by wearing the skimpy swimsuit in severe weather conditions. "I had already so much penicillin when I was wearing the fur bikini that I almost died," she told Fox News.
"I had to rush, turn my car around and head right back to the doctor's office, just run upstairs, jump in the elevator and all that," the actress further detailed. "And I barely got there. They had to shoot me with an antidote. Otherwise, I would have died. It was really rough shoot, man. Really rough. And then I came to London and everybody knew who I was."
As for Raquel's achievements, she won Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical thanks to her role as Constance de Bonacieux in 1974's "The Three Musketeers". She was also named one of the "100 Sexiest Stars in Film History" by Empire magazine in its 1995 issue. In addition, she placed No. 3 in Playboy's "100 Sexiest Stars of the 20th Century".
