Raquel Welch, a US actress who is frequently recognized with establishing the role of the modern action heroine in Hollywood movies, passed away at the age of 82.
After a brief illness, the celebrity died quietly on Wednesday morning, according to her management.
Jo-Raquel Tejada, who gave birth to Welch in 1940, won teen beauty pageants while growing up in California, where she eventually worked as a local weather forecaster.
The divorced mother-of-two worked as a cocktail server and a model for Neiman Marcus during a brief stay in Dallas, Texas.
Her major break came in 1964, not long after she returned to California, when she appeared in the Elvis Presley musicals Roustabout and A House Is Not A Home.
What was Raquel Welch famous for?
In the 1960s, Welch rose to fame as an international sex icon thanks to her role as a bikini-clad cavewoman in the 1966 movie One Million Years B.C.
She was also awarded a Golden Globe for The Three Musketeers in 1974.
Two years later, she gained notoriety for her appearances in the sci-fi picture Fantastic Voyage and the fantasy film One Million Years B.C.
Although Welch only had a few lines in the latter, advertising photos of her in a revealing two-piece deerskin bikini elevated her to the status of a top pin-up of the time.
What did Raquel Welch win a Golden Globe for?
For her work in The Three Musketeers, she was honored with a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical or Comedy in 1974.