Raquel Welch’s essential roles showcase versatility
Only one star could pull off that cavewoman bikini.
Raquel Welch, who died Wednesday at age 82, became infamous for wearing hardly anything in a prehistoric blockbuster but her international sex-symbol status went hand-in-hand with an interesting filmography.
The actress started in Hollywood in the mid-1960s – and even appeared with Elvis Presley in the musical “Roustabout” – for a career that lasted into the 2010s with an array of featured parts (including in the ’70s roller-derby drama “Kansas City Bomber”) and occasional cameos (playing herself in 1994’s “Naked Gun 331⁄3: The Final Insult”).
Here are Welch’s five essential roles and where to watch them:
‘Fantastic Voyage’ (1966)
Way before superhero movies made the most of tight leather and spandex, Welch rocked a skin-tight diving suit in this Cold War sci-fi adventure. She’s part of a submarine crew that shrinks down to microscopic size and takes one heck of a trip when injected into a scientist’s body to repair a blood clot in his brain and save his life after an assassination attempt.
⬤ Where to watch: HBO Max
‘One Million Years B.C.’ (1966)
In the fantasy adventure full of dinosaurs, cavepeople and erupting volcanoes, Welch played a fisherwoman who falls for a man (John Richardson) banished from his own tribe. She only had a few lines but that’s OK: She and some prehistoric lingerie became a pop-culture hit, with the pinup poster of her adorning many a bedroom walls in the 1960s – as well as a key scene in “The Shawshank Redemption.”
⬤ Where to watch: Blu-ray/DVD
‘Myra Breckinridge’ (1970)
Based on the Gore Vidal novel and also starring Mae West and John Huston, the controversial comedy bombed in every way but became one of Welch’s best-known lead roles (and one that’s probably safe from ever being remade). She stars as a transgender woman who claims part ownership of her uncle’s acting school and decides to teach a class on “femdom.”
⬤ Where to watch: On DVD
‘The Three Musketeers’ (1973)
Welch won a Golden Globe for her work in this adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas classic by director Richard Lester (”A Hard Day’s Night”). Playing Constance Bonacieux, dressmaker to the queen of Austria, the bombshell showed off her physical comedy chops in a food fight with Faye Dunaway while also being romanced by Michael York (as the swashbuckling d’Artagnan).
⬤ Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
‘How to Be a Latin Lover’ (2017)
A highlight of her later years (and one that introduced her to a new generation of film fans), the goofy comedy featured Welch as a billionaire widow pursued by a ladies’ man (Eugenio Derbez) who’s made a career of seducing older woman yet desperately needs to rekindle his romantic mojo. But this Latin lover gets some competition for her affections from his best friend, another conniving gigolo (Rob Lowe).
⬤ Where to watch: Paramount+*