If you have seen The wings of Freedom you will no doubt remember a poster by Raquel Welch hanging on the wall of Andy’s cell, the protagonist. It is perhaps one of the most iconic photos in the history of cinema, with Welch with amber skin, loose hair and irrepressible shapes in the role of Loana, a prehistoric woman who starred in one of the most popular films of the Sixties, namely A million years ago by Don Chaffey. Today that sex symbol capable of bewitching Americans and not only by effectively paving the way for modern Hollywood heroines died at the age of 82 against a career that led Welch to act in more than thirty films – mainly between the sixties and seventies – until his retirement in 2017.
According to his manager, Raquel Welch passed away on Wednesday February 15 after a short illness, even if her myth continues to survive not only for that history-making role as a cavewoman in a bikini, but also for a skill that also led her to win a Golden Globe in 1974 for her role in The Three Musketeers. Born Jo-Raquel Tejada in 1940, Welch grew up in California, where she won several teen beauty pageants before becoming a local television meteorologist. Her big break came in 1964, soon after her return to California after a stint in Texas, when she made cameos in A House Is Not A Home and Roustabout, a musical with Elvis Presley.
From that moment on, Raquel Welch experienced great popularity, transforming herself into one of the most famous pin-up girls of the time. Despite her public image, however, Welch has often expressed discomfort with the exaggerated representation of her body, once saying that she “wasn’t raised to be a sex symbol”: “It’s just not in my nature to be. The fact that she became one of them was probably a lucky misunderstanding.” he added. Among his works, we remember the role of the love interest of the character played by Frank Sinatra in Lady in Cement of 1968; the titular transgender heroine ne The Myra Breckinridge case of the seventies; and a Golden Globe-nominated performance for the 1987 television drama Right to Die. Later in life she also released her own line of wigs, a jewelry collection, a skin care line, and a makeup line for Mac Cosmetics. The actress is survived by a son, Damon Welch, and a daughter, Latanne “Tahnee” Welch, who is an actress like herself.
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Source: Vanity Fair
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