Raquel Welch, Barbara McNair, Miss World and Phil Crosby in the Bob Hope Christmas Special (1967)
February 15th, 2012
DVD: www.amazon.com thefilmarchive.org Raquel Welch (born September 5, 1940) is an American actress, author and sex symbol. In 1959, Welch played the title role in The Ramona Pageant, a yearly outdoor play at Hemet, California, which is based on the novel Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson and Bob Biloe. She became a weather forecaster at KFMB, a local San Diego television station. Because of her heavy schedule, she decided to leave her studies at San Diego State University (then known as San Diego State College). Her first marriage broke up and she moved with her two children, Damon and Latanne, to Dallas, Texas, where she modeled for Neiman Marcus and worked as a cocktail hostess, intending to move on to New York City from there. Instead, Welch moved back to California, found a place in Los Angeles and started making the rounds of the movie studios. She was cast in bit parts in two films and in the television shows Bewitched, McHale’s Navy, and The Virginian, as well as on the weekly variety series The Hollywood Palace as a billboard girl and presenter of acts. Welch’s first featured role came in the beach film A Swingin’ Summer, which led to a contract with 20th Century Fox. She was subsequently cast in a leading role in the sci-fi hit Fantastic Voyage (1966), which made her a star. She was the last star created under the studio system. On loan out to Hammer Studios in Britain, Welch starred in the remake of One Million Years BC striking an iconic pose in a prehistoric …
