Racquel Welch has passed away at 82! (1 Viewer)

[The 1960's]

Her 2nd appearance as a saloon girl in The Virginian S03E01 Ryker (Sep.16.1964)

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[Jack P]

Raquel was the last of the old school Hollywood sex symbol icons and she managed to preserve that mystique about her ever afterwards in part I think because she held her ground and never went down the low road of nude scenes and even when she did Playboy she wouldn't bare completely all.

A lot of her detractors said she "couldn't act" but they totally missed the point as to what made her iconic, and that was her ability to create a larger than life presence in anything she appeared in even though she wasn't that tall to begin with. It isn't the fact that she looks great in a fur bikini in "One Million Years BC" that made her iconic, it's the fact that she created a "believable" quality of selling the fantasy world 'reality' of that film with her larger-than-life force of nature quality that I think other Hollywood starlets who were Fox contract players back then like her wouldn't have been able to. The pity is that after OMYBC they didn't capture that quality in the films she did just afterwards like "Fathom" (her character shouldn't have been bailed out by Tony Franciosa at every step of the way). Had she come along a decade earlier, she might have been done well in the kind of early to mid-60s romantic comedies Jane Fonda did that were no longer being made by decade's end. And it's a pity that after agreeing to do a big screen version of "Sheena" in 1976 that project went into development limbo for a decade and then got made poorly with a wrongly cast Tanya Roberts instead.

The great thing that can be said about Raquel is that unlike Monroe and others, she was a long-term survivor and even if she didn't get to realize the fullness of what she had to offer she had a good career and a good life (even if she never found the ultimate Mr. Right for her though she was clearly at peace with that based on some of the last interviews she gave around 2015).

RIP to a true legend.

 

[Thomas T]

I was never a fan and I won't miss her, but I must admit at this moment of her passing that that she was really good in both The Wild Party and Fuzz. Perhaps if she had worked with better screenplays and better directors, she might have made a bigger contribution.

Better directors? She worked with Richard Lester, Stanley Donen, James Ivory, Edward Dmytryk to name a handful. Hardly hacks! Better screenplays? You mean like Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins clever mystery The Last Of Sheila? George MacDonald Fraser's witty take on The Three Musketeers? Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's hilarious Faustian Bedazzled? Screenplays like that?

She was an icon (and I do not use that term lightly) of her era (the 1960s). Her cultural image was bigger than the actress herself. As a sex symbol, she defined the 1960s as much as Betty Grable defined the 1940s and Marilyn Monroe defined the 1950s and I dare say her "contributions" to cinema surpassed Ms. Grable's unless you consider The Dolly Sisters, Weekend In Havana and Mother Wore Tights landmarks of cinema.

No shade on Ms. Grable whose films I enjoy. My point is Welch's "contribution" to cinema is the stuff of legend.

 

[Nelson Au]

Surprising news. The only film I have in my collection that she is in is Fantastic Voyage. I’ll be giving that a watch.

 

[marcco00]

x

 

[Robert Crawford]

wait a minute..... Betty Grable was the top female star in Hollywood for 10 years running, from 1943 to 1953. a motion picture superstar. She carried her own films and was a cash cow for 20th Century Fox. both Jack Lemmon and Mizi Gaynor have spoken of this.

Out of respect to Welch's recent passing, this isn't the thread to argue about Betty Grable's film career.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Another part of my youth is gone. May she R.I.P.

 

[JPCinema]

Raquel was excellent in KANSAS CITY BOMBER. Jodie Foster played her daughter.

 

[ponset]

Rest In Peace, Raquel Welch.

 

[Robert Crawford]

 

[Sultanofcinema]

Thanks Robert! I needed that!

 

[RobertMG]

She picked great films when she guested on TCM

Humphrey Bogart-Lauren Bacall’s To Have and Have Not, in addition to a couple of films featuring strong-willed women: George Cukor’s Adam’s Rib, starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, and Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, with Jean Arthur and James Stewart. The last presentation of the Welch evening will be the girl flick of 1961, Blake Edwards’ Breakfast at Tiffany’s, in which Audrey Hepburn’s sweet sex worker (not that you’d actually be told what the character does for a living) finds both both love and her missing cat.

 

[jayembee]

(There was obviously more to her than just her appearance, but it was that beauty that skyrocketed her to fame.)

Three guesses which part she played in Mother, Jugs & Speed...

 

[RobertMG]

Sorry to hear of her passing. May she RIP.

In terms of sex appeal, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention her memorable role as Lilian Lust in 1967's Bedazzled. (There was obviously more to her than just her appearance, but it was that beauty that skyrocketed her to fame.)

- Walter.

She outsmarted them all - she was a savvy biz lady and she survived Hollywood GOOD ON HER!

 

[Robert Crawford]

Three guesses which part she played in Mother, Jugs & Speed...

Yeah, on Wednesday afternoon, my brother texted me "Downer...Jugs passed away.

 

[Robert Crawford]

 

[The 1960's]

Rest In Peace
Raquel Welch (September 5, 1940-February 15, 2023)

Raquel (1970) TV Special
Stars Raquel Welch John Wayne Bob Hope Tom Jones John Wayne Jerry Trent​

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TV special which showcases Raquel Welch's talents as a singer, dancer, and comedienne. Welch not only sings such hit songs as "Everybody's Talkin'," "Games People Play," "The Sound of Silence," and "California Dreamin'," but also visits an orphanage in Mexico with John Wayne, sings a medley of songs with Tom Jones, and does the comedy sketch "Rocky Raccoon" with Bob Hope as well as performs dance numbers and travels all over the world.​

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From Raquel with Love (1980) TV Special
Stars Raquel Welch Mickey Rooney Douglas Fairbanks Jr. James Coco​

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Really, Raquel (1984) TV Special
Stars Raquel Welch The Krofft Puppets Jane Kean (voice) Rich Little Stan Jenson​

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TV special, adapted from Raquel Welch's live 1973 dinner club production, featuring Welch and puppets from the World of Sid & Marty Krofft.​

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Bob Hope Christmas Special (1968)
Stars Bob Hope Raquel Welch Barbara McNair Elaine Dunn Madeleine Hartog-Bel Phillip Crosby Earl Wilson Les Brown and His Band of Renown Les Brown​

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Bob Hope made his television debut on the inaugural broadcast of Los Angeles station KTLA in January 1947 and appeared on various television shows, particularly Christmas specials and various entertainment specials for the U.S. Armed Forces. A total of 272 NBC variety specials hosted by Hope were produced from 1950 to 1996. In addition to his television specials, Hope appeared on the series Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre from 1963 to 1967.
See Raquel Welch @14:12 (From Wikipedia)​

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[Robin9]

Better directors? She worked with Richard Lester, Stanley Donen, James Ivory, Edward Dmytryk to name a handful. Hardly hacks! Better screenplays? You mean like Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins clever mystery The Last Of Sheila? George MacDonald Fraser's witty take on The Three Musketeers? Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's hilarious Faustian Bedazzled? Screenplays like that?

She was an icon (and I do not use that term lightly) of her era (the 1960s). Her cultural image was bigger than the actress herself. As a sex symbol, she defined the 1960s as much as Betty Grable defined the 1940s and Marilyn Monroe defined the 1950s and I dare say her "contributions" to cinema surpassed Ms. Grable's unless you consider The Dolly Sisters, Weekend In Havana and Mother Wore Tights landmarks of cinema.

No shade on Ms. Grable whose films I enjoy. My point is Welch's "contribution" to cinema is the stuff of legend.

Thomas, her performances in Lady In Cement and The Last Of Sheila are not the stuff of legend.

 

[Keith Cobby]

She was an icon but, like Robin, I was never a fan. I had a few friends round for coffee on Friday, one of whom is a huge fan, so we watched Fathom. R.I.P. Raquel, you were a classy lady.

 

[Thomas T]

Thomas, her performances in Lady In Cement and The Last Of Sheila are not the stuff of legend.

I'm not going to further this discussion except to say I don't understand the mentality of someone who comments on someone they clearly don't like ("I won't miss her") in a thread devoted to mourning and appreciation by those of us who do regret her passing. I'm not a fan of Ali MacGraw but I assure you, when she leaves us, I won't be trashing her on a thread noting her passing.

Quite simply, I found your post insensitive and offensive. Have a nice day, sir!