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Before the world knew her as Raquel Welch, she was Jo Raquel Tejada, born on September 5, 1940, in Chicago to a Bolivian father and an English mother. Her family moved to San Diego when she was two, and she grew up in La Jolla, where she trained in ballet for a decade, acted in school theater, and won a string of local beauty titles. After graduating high school in 1958, she earned a theater arts scholarship to San Diego State College, determined to become a stage actress. In 1959, she married her high school sweetheart James Welch, took his surname, and soon became a mother. While juggling family life, she worked as a weather presenter at San Diego’s KFMB-TV, but the pressures of marriage, work, and study proved overwhelming. After separating in 1962, she moved with her two children to Dallas, supporting them through modeling and waitressing while auditioning whenever she could. The struggle continued after she returned to Los Angeles in 1963, where she met aspiring producer Patrick Curtis, who became her manager and helped reshape her career. Welch built momentum through small film roles and television appearances before breaking through in 1965 with a lead in A Swingin’ Summer, which brought industry attention and a contract with 20th Century Fox. Her real breakthrough came in 1966 with Fantastic Voyage, followed quickly by One Million Years B.C. for Hammer Films. Wearing a now-legendary fur bikini, she became an international sensation, with the image turning her into a global sex symbol and securing her place as one of Hollywood’s most enduring stars. See more photos: bit.ly/45EASaC