Raquel Welch, 0f 'Fantastic Voyage' Fame Dies at Age 82

LOS ANGELES – Raquel Welch, an actress who rose to fame in the early 1960s in films like “One Million Years B.C.” and “Fantastic Voyage,” has died, according to her manager, Steve Sauer. She was 82.

Welch died Wednesday morning in Los Angeles after a brief illness, the statement Sauer said.

The actress, got her start as a spokesmodel on the variety show, “Hollywood Palace,” and also appeared in the Elvis Presley film “Roustabout” (1964).

Her career took off two years later, with the release of the science fiction film “Fantastic Voyage,” which followed the story of a team of scientists where shrunk shrunken and injected into a sick man’s body; and “One Million Years, B.C.,” a prehistoric drama where Welch portrayed a cavewoman Loana who wore a fur bikini. A poster of her in the bikini was prominently featured in the acclaimed 1998 movie “The Shawshank Redemption.”

Welch went on to star in several films in the late 1960s, including the westerns “Bandolero!” and “100 Rifles,” the latter notable for her then-controversial interracial love scene with former football star Jim Brown.

She went on to star as Constance de Bonacieux in “The Three Musketeers” (1973) which earned Welch a best actress Golden Globe award for her performance. She reprised her role as de Bonacieux in the 1974 sequel “The Four Musketeers: Milady’s Revenge,” then played the titular role in 1970’s “Myra Breckinridge,” in which she played a trans actress.

In the 90s, Welch appeared in various sitcoms, including “Seinfeld,” where she played herself as well as “Spin City,” “Evening Shade” and “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.”

The actress’ final professional credit came in 2017, where she starred as Rosa, the mother-in-law of a single dad, in UPtv’s “Date My Dad.”