Raquel Welch was known for her body. That doesn't mean she liked it.

When 1966 adventure fantasy film One Million Years B.C. was released, 26-year-old Raquel Welch became an overnight sensation and a pop culture icon. Her role as cave woman Loana essentially ended the era of "blonde bombshells" like Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, and ushered in a new wave of strong, fierce, and sensual female sex symbols.

Watch the trailer for One Million Years B.C. below. Story continues after.

Despite her sex symbol status, Welch did not want to appear nude in any of her subsequent roles (she went on to star in numerous films, TV shows, and stage work right up until 2017). And while she posed partially nude for Playboy in 1979, she never did a fully nude shoot throughout her career.

"I've definitely used my body and sex appeal to advantage in my work, but always within limits," she told The New York Times. "I reserve some things for my private life, and they are not for sale."

In 2001, Welch told Cigar Aficionado that she was more intimidated by her image than anyone else. "I mean, there's a tremendous loss of self, because you really are in a job where this image has been created," she explained. "You get tired, you wake up ugly, you don't have anything new to say to people and you feel like a lemon that's had all the juice squeezed out of it.

"And especially in the beginning, you feel like you are going to be discovered as a fake. Like everyone is going to think, 'Well, why did we think she was so great?' It's human nature to pick people apart, and you just can't stand that you're under all this scrutiny. And yet at the same time, you're saying, 'I'm the luckiest person in the world because I've got this chance that everybody dreams of having.' It's really bittersweet."

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In 2012, she delved deeper into the perception of sex symbols in Men's Health magazine. "That was the hardest part, to realise that I was really an object. Not just to [One Million Years B.C. director Don Chaffey], but to the film industry in general. I was a completely non-verbal object that wasn’t allowed to talk more than necessary [Welch had only three lines of dialogue in the famous film]. And that isn’t exactly my personality, as you can now hear," she said.

"There was this perception of 'Oh, she’s just a sexpot. She's just a body. She probably can't walk and chew gum at the same time.' In my first couple of movies, I had no dialogue. It was frustrating. And then I started to realise that it came with the territory.

"Look at somebody like Marilyn Monroe. I always wondered why she seemed so unhappy. Everybody worshipped her and she was so extraordinary and hypnotic on screen. But they never nominated her for any of her musicals or comedies, as good as she was. Because for some reason, somebody with her sex appeal, her indescribable attraction, is rarely taken seriously. Hollywood doesn't honour comedy and it doesn't honour sex appeal. And they definitely don't give awards to either of them. So you always feel a little insecure."

The poster that started it all. Image: Getty Images/One Million Years B.C.

As for her life away from the big screen, Welch liked her privacy. Her first marriage was to James Welch, whose surname she retained during her lifetime (her maiden name was Tejada). The pair were high school sweethearts and Welch was only 19 years old when she and James tied the knot in 1959.

"I'll never forget the day I came running up the steps to my American government class and there he was," Welch wrote in her 2011 memoir Beyond the Cleavage. "Whoa! Who's that? He looked at me and smiled his crooked grin. It was instant attraction. We were both fifteen... Here was a young man who didn't ask anything much of me but showered me with the affection I was hungry for."

After getting married, the couple welcomed children Damon and Tahnee. Yet, Welch felt hamstrung by domestic life - she wanted to pursue an acting career in Hollywood. This ultimately led to the demise of her relationship in 1964.

"My breakup with Jim remains the most painful decision of my entire life. For our children's sake, I should have stayed. People talk about 'falling in love', but there is also a will to love, which is what it all boils down to after the honeymoon is over," she wrote in her memoir. "At our painfully young age, we didn't have the serious relationship tools to manage that kind of love. Those qualities come with a maturity that I couldn't even dream of possessing at the time. We were both just too damn young."

Three years after her divorce, Welch married producer Patrick Curtis. They divorced in 1972. 

Welch with Curtis in 1967. Image: Getty Images.

The actress married French director and producer André Weinfeld in 1980, and they divorced 10 years later in 1990.

Feeling the sting of her three divorces, Welch resolved to steer clear of love and relationships. "Since the time I was 15, I'd had one relationship right after the other," she said. "I thought maybe I was defining myself by the man in my life. I was thinking to myself, 'Don't look for love - it's better just to live your life'."

But when she met restauranteur Richard Palmer, that resolution flew out the window. The couple married in 1999 and Welch insisted that the fourth time was the charm.

"It's funny, but when you're not paying attention and not looking for love is when it happens. I hate to say it, but this time I'm taking it seriously," she said of her relationship with Palmer. "I think it's the first time I've been an adult in all my long life. I feel like I'd been playing adolescent; now I'm finally understanding. I mean, you can't always do the self-serving, fun thing or make the decisions that you would like to make all the time."

The pair separated in 2003 and later divorced in 2008.

Once again, Welch swore off marriage. "I'm just not suited for it any longer. I love men and I love their company, but I am too independent and self-motivated," she told Elle magazine.

"I'm willing to date but, quite frankly, there is a diminishing group of eligible people at my age. I don't mind the traditional roles of male and female but, as you can tell, I am a very strong-minded woman. I'm sure I would be a challenge for an awful lot of men. They wouldn't want to deal with it or, if they would like to deal with it, maybe I'm just not that interested."

Welch passed away on February 16, 2023, after a short illness. She was 82.

Feature image: Instagram.