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.
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 and Raquel Welch in the season finale of “Seinfeld” in 1997.
(Chris Haston / NBC)
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 on April 27, 1969.
(Associated Press)
Raquel Welch stands over people sleeping on the ground in 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 Salpan and a few marines 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, from left, Ed Nolfi, Sterling Clark and Paul Bogaev in New York, on Nov. 12, 1981.
(Angel Franco / Associated Press)
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)