Raquel Welch: Remembering the Beauty Icon’s Life and Legacy
Raquel Welch, renowned actress, model, and entrepreneur, died of a sudden heart attack on February 15, 2023, in her Los Angeles home. Judi's Wigs proudly offers Raquel Welch wigs to our Tulsa, Oklahoma City and online customers. In her memory, let's look back at her life, career, and legacy.
Growing Up
Raquel Welch was born September 5, 1940, and named Jo-Raquel Tejada by her mother, Josephine Sarah née Hall, and father, Armando Carlos Tejada Urquizo. The family moved from Chicago, Illinois, to San Diego, California, when she was two years old.
Already known for her beauty, Raquel began winning local beauty pageants at only 14 years old, including Miss Photogenic, Miss Contour, and Miss Fairest of the Fair at the San Diego County Fair.
Raquel Welch’s Love Life
Raquel graduated from La Jolla High School in 1958. Shortly after graduation in May 1959, she married her high school sweetheart, James Welch, whom she affectionately called "Jim," at 19 years old. Less than a year later, she gave birth to the couple's first child, Damon Welch. In 1961 she gave birth to a daughter, Latanne or "Tahnee."
James and Raquel split in 1962, but she has since expressed great regret at the end of the marriage, stating in interviews that she wished she would have fought for the union and referring to James as the best of her husbands.
Raquel married producer Patrick Curtis in Paris in 1966, but the pair divorced in 1972. She described her second marriage as unhappy and Curtis as manipulating.
Andre Weinfield, a French American television producer and journalist, met Welch in 1977 and took his place as her third husband in 1980 as they wed in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Raquel lived in Los Angeles, while Weinfield resided in New York. The couple separated in 1990 after ten years of marriage due to the distance living in different cities brought to the marriage.
In 1997, she met engaged-to-be-married restaurateur Richard Palmer. Palmer left his fiancé to pursue Raquel. She married Palmer, a man 15 years her junior, in 1999. They separated in 2008, after which Raquel expressed her intentions never to marry again.
"I like what I do, I actually enjoy being me, and I make a very good living at it, and I'm happy," Raquel said in a 2015 interview with Piers Morgan on "Life Stories." “I don't have to have a man. I don't regret the marriages. I had real feelings for all of them. At the time, I thought it was love, and we could make a great life, but it wasn't in the cards."
A Captivating Career
Small Beginnings
After Raquel split from Welch in 1964, she moved herself and her two small children, Tahnee and Damon, to Dallas, Texas. There, she modeled for Neiman Marcus but found that the modeling gig couldn't support her family. She began working as a cocktail waitress at the modern Cabana Motor Hotel in Dallas, enduring the short skirts management required the waitresses to wear to supplement the income she needed for her young family.
"I was a teenage mother," Welch said in her autobiography by Peter Haining, "Raquel Welch: Sex Symbol to Superstar." "I had two children to support, and I wanted to give them as comfortable a life as I could."
A Meteoric Rise
Raquel's first major film and singing debut was a comedy titled "A Swingin' Summer." A year later, she starred in "Fantastic Voyage," the 1966 science fiction film in which she played Cora.
Then the role that shot her to prominence- adventure/fantasy film "One Million Years B.C." set in the age of cavemen and dinosaurs. The movie poster showed Welch scantily clad in an animal skin bikini- the photo that established her as the sex symbol of the 60s and 70s, for better or worse.
She revealed that this status, while often uncomfortable, led her to new opportunities.
"I am not a fool," Raquel said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 2010. "I realized when I came along I wasn't Meryl Streep who had been put into a bikini. I was somebody that got rocketed into the spotlight and superstardom overnight. I knew this was going to give me an opportunity, and I should make the best of it."
The actress began reaching new heights of success, providing for her family and achieving her dreams.
"People kept telling me that combining children with a career at an early age just wasn't done," she said in a 1986 interview. "But I think it helped. It gave me a kind of stability and determination I might not have had otherwise. If nothing else, I owed it to them not to trash myself."
A Lasting Legacy
Raquel's acting career spanned over five decades. She appeared in more than 30 movies, 50 television shows, and two Broadway plays, including the 1973 film, "The Three Musketeers," in which she played Constance de Bonacieux, a role that garnered her much success.
Her last big screen appearance was in the film, "How to be a Latin Lover," a 2017 American comedy.
Awards, Achievements, and Ambitions
In 1975, Raquel won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Category for her role in 'The Three Musketeers." In 1983, she won a Western Heritage Award in the Fictional Television Drama category, which she shared with the producers and writer of the television film, "The Legend of Walks Far Woman."
She received a Golden Globe nomination for her role in the film, "Right to Die," in 1987. In 1996, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2001, Raquel received the Imagen Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award for her positive promotion of Latin Americans throughout her career.
Beauty Backed with Business Savvy
Raquel launched a workout book in 1987 called "Raquel: The Raquel Welch Total Beauty and Fitness Program," revealing her "most cherished beauty secrets, physical and mental," drawing from Hatha yoga influences. In 2010, She published her autobiography, "Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage." She became the face of LUX Soaps and Foster Grant Sunglasses.
She created her product lines, including a jewelry line, a makeup line with MAC Cosmetics called Beauty Icon Collection, and our favorite- a line of signature wigs with HairUWear. Raquel Welch’s wigs were so successful that she became the Creative Director at HairUWear in March 2015.
"As the Creative Director of the world's finest wig company, I have the privilege of working with a brilliant team of designers and stylists to develop my collections," Raquel said of the alternative hair company. "Fresh, fashion-forward looks. Loads of natural texture and movement. Styles that are more fun than fuss. The highest quality craftsmanship. Gorgeous, ready-to-wear hair that feels as good as it looks. My mantra: Make it nothing but the best. Then make it better."
So, Why Are Raquel Welch’s Wigs So Popular?
Raquel insisted that any style in her collection be worthy of a leading lady like herself and make each woman feel like they belonged in the spotlight. Her mission was to make every woman feel more beautiful by using the best quality and technique.
"Since I started the Raquel Welch Wig Collection, I've witnessed enormous advances in technology that have allowed for countless improvements in the coloring, fibers, construction, and wear-ability of our wig products…which means that they are lighter, more natural looking, and more user friendly than ever before," said Raquel.
Raquel Welch Wigs at Judi’s Wigs
Judi's Wigs offers a variety of Raquel Welch wigs to help our customers look and feel their best.
Here are some of the Raquel Welch wigs we offer our customers, online or in person at your local Judi’s Wigs in Tulsa or Oklahoma City.
Simmer – a mid-length "lob," named for being longer than the traditional bob hairstyle, that will frame your face with light and airy waves.
Voltage - a short and sassy style with all-over layers.
Show Stopper - long straight layers with heat-friendly synthetic hair.
Top Billing - get extra volume with this long, tapered length that blends seamlessly into longer layers.
Winner - Judi's #1 selling wig year after year, and for good reason. This light pixie cut comes ready to wear, accenting your features with razor-like tapering of barely-there waves.
Find these styles and more at our online wig store or in person at a wig store near you at our Tulsa and Oklahoma City locations.