Raquel Welch, Legendary Screen Siren and Sex Symbol, Dies at 82

Gary Hershorn/ReutersRaquel Welch, the Golden Globe-winning actor whose onscreen persona as a sizzling sex symbol helped define cinema’s grittiest era, died Wednesday morning, according to multiple reports. She was 82.The death was first reported by TMZ, with family members telling the outlet that Welch had died following a brief, unspecified illness. Welch’s representatives later confirmed the news elsewhere, including to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.Before bursting into the international spotlight as a bombshell of a scientist’s assistant in 1966’s Fantastic Voyage, Welch was a single mother, bouncing from San Diego to Dallas and then Los Angeles with her two children after separating from her high school sweetheart. Once in California, the aspiring actor landed small roles in films like the Elvis Presley vehicle Roustabout, and larger parts in 1965’s beach bonanza A Swingin’ Summer. Her work got her noticed by the suits over at 20th Century Fox, who handed her a seven-year contract.Read more at The Daily Beast.