Raquel Welch obituary: Sex symbol whose later roles showed aptitude for comedy
Raquel Welch appears at the Los Angeles premiere of 'How to Be a Latin Lover' on April 26, 2017. Welch died on Wednesday after a brief illness. She was 82.
Raquel Welch, who has died aged 82, had only three lines as Loana in the 1966 film fantasy but attained sex-symbol status from the role, in which she was dressed in a fur-lined bikini. The image made its imprint in popular culture and the publicity poster sold millions. The feminist critic Camille Paglia described the American actor’s depiction as “a lioness — fierce, passionate, and dangerously physical”.
The tale of cavepeople coexisting with dinosaurs was Welch’s breakthrough film — and the beginning of a largely unsuccessful battle she waged to be taken seriously as an actor. When she arrived on set, she told the director, Don Chaffey, she had been thinking about her scene. She recalled his response as: “Thinking? What do you mean you’ve been thinking? Just run from this rock to that rock – that’s all we need from you.”
