The Hollywood actress, whose career spanned more than 50 years, passed away peacefully on February 15 after a brief illness according to her management company.
Welch made her initial breakthrough in 1966 in the prehistoric drama One Million Years BC, and despite having just a few lines of dialogue, her appearance was to become one of her best-known roles, her only costume a deer skin bikini.
The famous image of her in the two-piece became a best-selling poster and in 2011, Time magazine put it at number six in the "top 10 bikinis in pop culture". In the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption, the poster that Andy Dufresne had on his prison cell wall at the time of his escape was this famous pinup image of Welch.
Following her appearance in One Million Years BC, Welch went on to become one of the most sought-after female stars throughout the '60s and '70s
She won a best actress Golden Globe in 1975 for her role in The Three Musketeers and in 1994, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2001 she was awarded the Imagen Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award for her positive promotion of Americans of Latin heritage throughout her career.
Welch, regarded as a sex symbol in her time, was dubbed the “most desirable woman of the 1970s by Playboy magazine.
May you RIP Raquel.
