Some Hollywood images are just so iconic that they create a whole persona and brand. Raquel Welch looking stunning in a fur bikini in the 1966 film One Million Years B.C. is one of them. It solidified her status as a sex symbol.
On February 15, 2023, Raquel died at age 82. At the time, her cause of death was not released. New details are emerging about her passing, including exact time, cause, and a publicly unknown diagnosis.
Raquel’s death certificate shows she died at 2:25 a.m. Her cause of death was cardiac arrest. She had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, which was not public knowledge.
While that fur bikini looked fantastic, it was not always fun to wear while filming because of the weather conditions. The weather was extreme, and there was not much there to protect her. As a result, she developed tonsillitis.
“I had already so much penicillin when I was wearing the fur bikini that I almost died,” she recalled. “I had to rush, turn my car around and head right back to the doctor’s office, just run upstairs, jump in the elevator, and all that. And I barely got there. They had to shoot me with an antidote. Otherwise, I would have died. It was really rough shoot, man. Really rough. And then I came to London and everybody knew who I was.”
More from LittleThings: Raquel Welch Performs 'Different Drum' For Bob Hope's 1967 Christmas Special
Beyond Hollywood fame, Raquel was a mother of two. She shared daughter Tahnee Welch and son Damon Welch with ex-husband James Welch. The couple divorced in 1964, but she kept his name the rest of her life.
To learn more about this iconic woman’s death, watch this video.
