RIP: Raquel Welch

[thewayne]

Wow. 82 years old, passed after a short illness.

Well-known for OH SO MANY roles, I think my personal favorite was the original Dudley Moore/Peter Cooke Bedazzled. Not that she was much more than a go go dancer in it, but that's one of my favorite movies overall. But another amazing role was her part in the Three Musketeers, the '73(?) version with Michael York as D'Artagnian and Richleu played by Charleton Heston.

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/raquel-welch-dead-obituary-1234680617/

Comments

[acelightning73]

She followed in the stiletto-shod footsteps of Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Gina Lollobrigida, Sophia Loren, and Brigitte Bardot - busty, curvaceous glamor queens men could fantasize about romancing, and women could fantasize about being.

She was appearing on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and there was someone from the San Diego Zoo showing off tiger cubs. Raquel had a tiger cup in her lap, and Carson did that Groucho-wink thing and said, "May I come over there and pet your pussy?" To which Raquel quick-wittedly replied, 'Just let me get this cat out of my lap...'

The went to a commercial after about 90 seconds of the audience, the band, and the stage crew all whooping and guffawing. And when the break was over, Raquel and the tiger and the tiger's handler were all gone, and Johnny had gotten a grip on himself.

[draconis]

I thought that was Zsa Zsa? Although there doesn't seem to be any footage of it. :-(

[thewayne]

Zsa Zsa was also quite capable of fast comebacks.  Neither one would surprise me if they said it.

[draconis]

Agreed!

[acelightning73]

During one of his "greatest Tonight Show moments" compilation shows, Carson said people wrote in about the Raquel Welch moment, but there is nothing in the archived recordings like that. I was watching on my TV at home, because I had gotten off work at NBC radio at 11: 30 PM and I took the subway home and turned on the TV. As I sat there with a snack, admiring Raquel's physical beauty, the whole scene unfolded. Alas, I didn't own a VCR in those days. But IT DID HAPPEN - I SAW IT MYSELF.

[thewayne]

Sadly too many great television moments do not have recordings of them.  Like the missing very early Doctor Who episodes when the BBC was recording over and reusing video tape because it was so expensive.  Sometimes things are re-discovered from the 16mm film copies that were made and sent to remote broadcast sites, sometimes overseas.

[acelightning73]

I was working in the same building where Johnny taped his show - 30 Rockefeller Plaza. And I went home to watch TV as I usually did, although there was no employee discount for tickets to TV shows. I did occasionally run into celebrities like the weatherman on the local news shows, in the elevator.

[acelightning73]

There was a process in the 1950s for recording video for re-use. It was called "kinescope recording'. They projected the video into a specialized lens system attached to a movie camera. It compenstated for the difference in frame rates between video and film. Some older programs where made into kinnys - kinescope recordings. The picture quality wasn't the best, but it was better than no recording at all. And then came videotape. (I had to know how a kinny worked in order to pass my First Class Radio Operator's License to work in broadcasting.)

Did you know that people used to edit video like the edited audio, with a razor blade, a special kind of adhesive tape, and a spliing block? Urrgh!

[thewayne]

Yep!  I couldn't remember the word kinescope when I wrote the original reply, but those films are sometimes the only record of old shows. While I never edited videotape with a razor blade, I'm quite familiar with splicing 16mm film.

[acelightning73]

I got pretty good at editing audio with a splicing block, a grease pencil, and a razor blade. Then I started having access to audio software, which can give much more precise edits than a razor blade.

[thewayne]

Audio software is a lot of fun to work with!  As is video editing software.

[thewayne]

What a fantastic comeback!  I absolutely adored Carson's Tonight Show, and since he retired and since passed, I maintain the phrase "There is but one king of late night, and Carson was his name."  Though Stephen Colbert does one heck of a show.

[acelightning73]

She was quick-witted, which is a useful skill for a sexy woman. And that was one of the few times Carson was caught off-guard, and he wasn't used to it. But he was professional enough to recover quickly enough to get the show back on track. (He really was a consummate professional.)

[murakozi]

I think the Three/Four Musketeers was my favorite film that she was in. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there's Fathom, which is almost, but not quite, cheesy enough to be enjoyable.

[captainsblog]

I was always fond of her (not fondling hers) in Fantastic Voyage. I think I first came about it in the very cheesed-up Saturday morning cartoon, which led me to the "novel" by Asimov ("novel" in quotes because he wrote it as an adaptation of the film), and finally to a TV screening of the movie itself which was the first thing done. A premise that Ant Man owes a lot to.

[thewayne]

Ah, yes.  I did think about mentioning Fantsatic Voyage but decided not to in the end. Asimov hated the book because the science was so bad, so he wrote Fantastic Voyage 2 to do a similar stry with good science.  I'm sure that I read it, but I don't remember a thing about it.

[draconis]

And of course, who can forget her and Miss Piggy singing "I'm a Woman" on the Muppet Show? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyiALn0e3P8

[acelightning73]

And another very talented sexy lady and the Muppets taking on another Peggy Lee hit... https://youtu.be/VoIZQh1IjI8 (..."My kinda woman!")

[acelightning73]

She was possibly the last of the Sex Bomb stars, dating from Mae West through Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Gina Lollobrigida, Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren - all the drop-dead-sexy curvaceous busty ladies who embodied glamour, sex appeal, and beauty. All men wanted to fuck them, all women wanted to be them. At least there are some women stars who are esteemed for their acting (or other performing) abilities.

[disneydream06]

Is it wrong of me to say, I expected her to be older?
RIP Miss Welch.
Hugs, Jon

[thewayne]

I kind of expected her to be a bit older, too.

[silveradept]

The name is familiar enough that I've probably seen at least one movie (The Naked Gun one, almost surely) of hers, if not more.

[thewayne]

She was quite the sex kitten, and for me a lot more attractive than Jane Fonda who played many similar SK roles.  Though Fonda is currently is being quite outspoken about the remake of Barbarella.