Hollywood actor Raquel Welch, whose passing on Wednesday after a brief illness was announced by her agent, was honoured by actor Kareena Kapoor. Famous for her roles in films including Fantastic Voyage, One Million Years BC, and Myra Breckinridge, Raquel was a big-screen star of the 1960s and 1970s. She had been around for 82 years.
Kareena shared a photo of the late actor that had been uploaded by a US magazine as a tribute to her memory on Instagram Stories in honour of the late actor. In the 1966 sci-fi film Fantastic Voyage, which also starred Stephen Boyd, Edmund O'Brien, Donald Pleasance, and Arthur Kennedy, Raquel's character Cora played a pivotal role in her rise to fame. The movie followed the exploits of a group of people who find themselves miniaturized beside a submarine and then injected into the bloodstream of an almost-assassinated scientist in an effort to save his life. The performer became an instant hit when she emerged from the water wearing a furry swimsuit in the movie One Million Years BC, which was also released that year. As a result of the movie's visual effects and art direction/set decoration winning Academy Awards, it has now earned a reputation as a cult favourite.
After receiving a few lucrative offers, Raquel starred alongside Richard Chamberlain, Oliver Reed, and Michael York in The Three Musketeers in 1973, winning her a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical. Raquel gained notoriety for suing MGM after losing her role as Nick Nolte's co-star in the film Cannery Row. Raquel was never afraid to speak out about current events. Her other roles include those in Season 2 of Mork and Mindy, Right to Die, Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult from 1994, the Seinfeld episode The Summer of George from 1997, Legally Blonde from 2001, and American Family from 2002 on PBS.
Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage, her memoir and self-help manual from 2010, contains the following passages: "I've definitely used my body and sex appeal to advantage in my work, but always within limits."
Damon Welch and Tahnee Welch, Raquel Welch's son and daughter, are still alive.