The Hollywood actress and supernatural beauty Raquel Welch iconic in her peak and now more than ever as she nears 80, broke the stereotype of the ‘sex symbol’ the media thrust upon her. 

Born in Chicago 1940, Raquel inherited her exotic looks from English and Bolivian ancestry that first brought her fame winning various beauty crowns. Yet it was her sheer talent and determination to perform that made her into a star. Her first film appearance was low key playing a call girl, before shooting to stardom as the laconic Loana in 1966’s One Million Years B.C.

Of course, it was that film poster donning the furry bikini which was to eventually make her career. Despite what a chauvinistic film industry had in mind, there was more to her than just her looks. She documented her battle against her given status in her book Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage.  

Those who continued to doubt would eat their words as she won a Golden Globe for her performance in The Three Musketeers. Raquel also turned her talents to business – doing spectacularly well in the fields of exercise videos and wigs, of all things. Such entrepreneurial flare and iconic style still inspires generations of women.