Following the end of her marriage in 1962, Raquel Welch packed up her two children and moved to Dallas, Texas, where she modeled for Neiman-Marcus and worked as a barmaid for a time.
Regrouping, she returned to California and made the rounds of film/TV auditions. She found work providing minor but sexy set decoration on the small screen (Bewitched (1964), McHale’s Navy (1962) and The Virginian (1962)) as well as the large screen (Elvis Presley’s Roustabout (1964) and Doris Day’s Do Not Disturb (1965)). Caught in the midst of the “beach party” craze, it’s not surprising to find out that her first major film role was A Swingin’ Summer (1965), which concentrated more on musical guests The Righteous Brothers and Gary Lewis & The Playboys than on Welch’s outstanding assets. But 20th Century-Fox certainly took notice and signed her up.
Raquel Welch in The Biggest Bundle of Them All (1968) Harry Price, Juliana and some incompetent European gangsters kidnap an…
Raquel Welch; production still from Leslie H. Martinson’s Fathom (1967)
Raquel Welch – One Million Years BC (1966) Caveman Tumak (John Richardson) is banished from his savage tribe. He finds…
Raquel Welch, Robert Wagner : production still from Ken Annakin’s The Biggest Bundle of Them All (1968) Cesare Celli moved…
Raquel Welch; promotional piece for Fantastic Voyage (1966)
Raquel Welch and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in The Hollywood Palace (1964)
Raquel Welch vs. Martine Beswick - One Million Years B.C. (1966)