Raquel Welch, International Icon, Dead At 82

LOS ANGELES, CA — Actress and international bombshell Raquel Welch died Wednesday at her home in Los Angeles. The iconic star made famous by films such as 1966's "One Million Years B.C.'' and 1970's "Myra Breckinridge" was 82.

It was her doeskin bikini-clad role in “One Million Years B.C.” that made her an international sex symbol who would continue to fascinate audiences well into her golden years.

Welch "passed away peacefully early this morning after a brief illness," according to her representative Stephen LaManna. No further information about her death was immediately available.

Largely defined by her sex appeal, Welch was something of an enigma. She recognized her status as a sex symbol — Playboy Magazine ranked her behind Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield as one of the all-time sexiest stars — but she refused to do nude scenes. She spent decades seeking to establish her acting bonafide even after achieving international stardom. Her 2010 memoir was called "Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage."

She knew that some people didn’t take her seriously because of her glamorous image. "I'm not Penny Marshall or Barbra Streisand," she told the AP in 1993. "They'll say, 'Raquel Welch wants to direct? Give me a break."

Welch discussed with the Los Angeles Times her role as Loana the cave girl in 'One Million Years B.C.' that unexpectedly launched her to stardom with just three lines and a little bikini.

"I liked that there was something very superhero about her," Welch told The Times in 2016. "At least I wasn’t one of those mincing little girls; I never wanted to be that."

"I just thought it was a goofy dinosaur epic we'd be able to sweep under the carpet one day," she told The Associated Press in 1981. "Wrong. It turned out that I was the Bo Derek of the season, the lady in the loin cloth about whom everyone said, 'My God, what a bod' and they expected to disappear overnight."

She did not, playing Lust for the comedy team of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in their film "Bedazzled" in 1967 and playing a secret agent in the sexy spy spoof "Fathom" that same year. She also parlayed her instant fame from "One Million Years B.C." into starring roles in "Bandolero!" (1968), "100 Rifles" (1969), and "Myra Breckinridge," a graphic social satire based on Gore Vidal's novel.

Welch, the daughter of a Bolivian engineer, grew up in San Diego County where she became a beauty queen, winning Miss La Jolla and Miss San Diego while still in high school.

While her breakthrough as an actress seemed to come overnight, she spent more than a year auditioning for small parts in television roles such as "Bewitched" and "McHale's Navy." She was infamously passed over for the role of Mary Ann in "Gilligan's Island."

She scored another major role in 1974's "The Three Musketeers," which brought her a Golden Globe for best actress in a motion picture musical or comedy.

In addition to acting, Welch was a singer and dancer. She surprised many critics — and won positive reviews — when she starred in the 1981 musical "Woman of the Year" on Broadway, replacing a vacationing Lauren Bacall. She returned to the Great White Way in 1997 in "Victor/Victoria."

She memorably skewered her reputation with an appearance on a 1997 episode of "Seinfeld," playing herself as a demanding diva who torments the series' Kramer and Elaine characters.

For the second time in her career, a generation of fans re-discovered her in the 1990s thanks to that same doe-skin bikini when a poster from the film was prominently used in the 1994 film "Shawshank Redemption."

"The irony of it all is that even though people thought of me as a sex symbol, in reality I was a single mother of two small children!” she wrote in her autobiography."

Her career spanned over 50 years and included starring roles in 30 films and 50 television appearances.

Her recent work included an episode of the sitcom "Date My Dad" in 2017 and the film "How to Be a Latin Lover" in 2017.

Welch was also involved in a successful line of wigs in her later years.

Married and divorced four times, she is survived by two children, Damon Welch and Tahnee Welch, who also became an actress, including landing a featured role in 1985’s "Cocoon."

City News Service and The Associated Press contributed to this report.