Raquel Welch

Welch, who rose to fame as a sex symbol and actress in the 1960s, died on February 15 at age 82. She became known for her role as a cavewoman in One Million Years B.C. (1966), a box-office success that rocketed her to fame in part because of her doe-skin bikini that adorned best-selling posters. She starred in such films as Fantastic Voyage (1966), Myra Breckinridge (1970), The Last of Sheila (1973) and The Wild Party (1975), and she won a Golden Globe for her role in The Three Musketeers (1973). In 1998, Playboy named Welch the No. 3 sexiest star of the 20th century, just behind Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. Welch is also known for suing a major Hollywood studio for age discrimination—and winning. After she was abruptly fired from Cannery Row in 1981, allegedly because her insistence on doing her own hair and makeup at home violated her contract, MGM replaced her with Debra Winger, an actress 15 years her junior. Welch filed a $24 million lawsuit, stating: “What they did was use me to get financing for the movie, then they dumped me for Debra, which they’d been planning all along.” The jury sided with Welch, who was awarded more than $10 million, and the verdict was upheld in an appeals court years later.