Hollywood sex symbol legend Raquel Welch dies

AP :
Raquel Welch, whose emergence from the sea in a skimpy, furry bikini in the film ‘One Million Years BC’ would propel her to international sex symbol status throughout the 1960s and ‘70s, has died. She was 82. Welch died early Wednesday after a brief
illness, according to her agent, Stephen LaManna of the talent agency Innovative Artists.
Welch’s breakthrough came in 1966?s campy prehistoric flick ‘One Million Years BC,’ despite having a grand total of three lines. Clad in a brown doeskin bikini, she successfully evaded pterodactyls but not the
notice of the public.
She did not, playing Lust for the comedy team of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in their film ‘Bedazzled’ in 1967 and playing
a secret agent in the sexy spy spoof ‘Fathom’ that same year. Her curves and beauty captured pop culture attention, with Playboy crowning her the ‘most desired woman’ of the ‘70s, despite never being completely naked in the magazine. In 2013, she graced the No 2 spot on Men’s Health’s ‘Hottest Women of All Time’ list. In the film ‘The Shawshank Redemption,’ a poster of Welch covers an escape tunnel – the last of three that character Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) used after Rita Hayworth and Marilyn Monroe. In addition to acting, Welch was a singer and dancer. She surprised many critics – and won positive reviews – when she starred in the 1981 musical ‘Woman of the Year’ on Broadway, replacing a vacationing Lauren Bacall. She returned to the Great White Way in 1997 in ‘Victor/Victoria.’
Welch was born Jo-Raquel Tejada in Chicago and raised in La Jolla, California. (The Jo in her name was from her mother, Josephine). Welch was a divorced mother when she met ex-actor turned press agent, Patrick Curtis. Married and divorced four times, she is survived by two children, Damon Welch and Tahnee Welch, who also became an actress, including landing a featured role in 1985’s ‘Cocoon.’ She wrote in her autobiography, ‘Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage.’