Golden Globe winner Raquel Welch dies aged 82

Actor Raquel Welch has died following a brief illness. (Reuters: Danny Moloshok/File)

Raquel Welch, the actor whose sultry, curvaceous looks made her a leading sex symbol of the 1960s and 70s, has died at age 82, her manager has confirmed.

Welch's manager said in a statement to AFP that she died peacefully early on Wednesday morning after "a brief illness", without providing further details.

The Golden Globe winner starred in about 30 films and 50 television series in a career spanning five decades.

Welch came to the wide attention of movie-goers for her role in the 1966 sci-fi adventure Fantastic Voyage, followed by her iconic appearance later that year in the prehistoric drama One Million Years BC.

Although Welch had just a few lines of dialogue in BC, images of her memorable appearance in a fur-skinned bikini made her a bestselling pin-up that transformed her into a global sex symbol.

"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."

Welch at an event in Los Angeles in 1962.(Getty Images: Michael Ochs Archives/Earl Leaf)

She didn't disappear from screens, with starring roles to follow in Bedazzled, Bandolero!, 100 Rifles, Myra Breckinridge and Hannie Caulder.

Welch also played Mrs Windham Vandermark, the murder victim's ex-wife, in Legally Blonde alongside Reese Witherspoon. 

Witherspoon paid tribute to the late actor, saying she loved working with her. 

Muppet character Miss Piggy also reminisced on her time working with the star. 

"Raquel Welch was one of the most wonderful people I’ve ever worked with," a tweet from her official Twitter account said.

"Performing a duet with her on The Muppet Show helped moi become the W-O-M-A-N I am today!

"We’ll never forget vous, Raquel!"

Actor Paul Feig described Welch as awesome, having worked with her on Sabrina The Teenage Witch. 

Welch at a Barneys New York Celebration in Beverly Hills in 2017.
(Getty Images: Barneys New York/Matt Winkelmeyer)

"Kind, funny and a true superstar whom I was pretty much in love with for most of my childhood," he said. 

"We’ve lost a true icon."

Welch pictured around six months before her death. Picture: Jeff Rayner/Coleman-Rayner

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

Wires

First published at ABC News, Thursday February 16, 2023