Jo Raquel Tejada

Jo Raquel Tejada was born in Chicago, Illinois, to a Bolivian aeronautical engineer father and an American mother of English descent. Raised in San Diego, California, she studied theater arts at San Diego State College and worked as a weather forecaster and model before breaking into Hollywood films.

In 1966, Welch shot to international stardom in sci-fi adventure Fantastic Voyage and Hammer Films' One Million Years B.C.. Though she had only three lines of dialogue in the latter, her publicity still in a doe-skin fur bikini became a best-selling worldwide poster that redefined the cinematic sex symbol. Welch fought hard against Hollywood pigeonholing, proving her comedic and dramatic chops. In 1974, she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical or Comedy as Constance Bonacieux in Richard Lester's The Three Musketeers. She later starred on Broadway in Woman of the Year and Victor/Victoria, and became a pioneering fitness author and wig entrepreneur.