Raquel Welch

Raquel Welch
Raquel Welch
Basic information
Birthname	Jo Raquel Tejada
Born	September 5, 1940
Birthplace	Chicago, Illinois
Gender	Female
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1964 -
Character information
Appeared on	Mork & Mindy
Appeared as	Captain Nirvana of the Necrotons
Episodes appeared in	Mork vs. The Necrotons

Raquel Welch (born September 5, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois - died Feb 15, 2023) was an American actress, who appeared in the second season of the ABC sitcom Mork & Mindy, as

Captain Nirvana of the Necrotons, in the double length episode Mork vs. The Necrotons.

Biography

Welch was born as Jo Raquel Tejada on September 5, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois. She is the first child of Armando Carlos Tejada Urquizo (1911–1976) and Josephine Sarah Hall (1909–2000. Welch was named after her paternal grandmother. Her mother, Josephine Hall, was the daughter of architect Emery Stanford Hall and his wife Clara Louise Adams; she was of English ancestry. Welch has a younger brother, James "Jim" Tejada, and had a younger sister, Gayle Tejada (1943-2020).

The family moved from Illinois to San Diego, California, when Raquel was two years old. Welch attended the Pacific Beach Presbyterian Church every Sunday with her mother. As a young girl, Raquel wanted to perform. She studied ballet from age seven to seventeen but gave it up after her instructor told her she did not have the right figure. At age 14, she won beauty titles as Miss Photogenic and Miss Contour. While attending La Jolla High School she won the title of Miss La Jolla and the title of Miss San Diego – the Fairest of the Fair – at the San Diego County Fair. This long line of beauty contests eventually led to the state title of Maid of California. Her parents divorced when she finished her school years.

Welch graduated with honors from high school in 1958. Seeking an acting career, Welch entered San Diego State College on a theater arts scholarship, and the following year she married her high school sweetheart, James Welch. She got a job as a weather forecaster at KFMB, a local San Diego television station. Because her family life and television duties were so demanding she decided to give up her drama classes. After her separation from James Welch, she moved with her two children to Dallas, where she made a "precarious living" as a model for Neiman Marcus and as a cocktail waitress.

Welch initially intended to move to New York City from Dallas, but moved back to Los Angeles in 1963 and started applying for roles with the movie studios. During this period of time, she met one-time child actor and Hollywood agent Patrick Curtis who became her personal and business manager. They developed a plan to turn Welch into a sex symbol. To avoid typecasting as a Latina, he convinced her to use her husband's last name.

Through her first marriage, Welch is the mother of Damon Welch (born November 6, 1959) and actress Tahnee Welch (born Latanne Rene Welch, December 26, 1961).

Filmography (Partial)

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1964	A House Is Not a Home	Call Girl
1964	Roustabout	College Girl	Uncredited
1966	Fantastic Voyage	Cora Peterson	First film under contract to 20th Century Fox
1966	One Million Years B.C.	Loana
1967	Fathom	Fathom Harvill
1968	Bandolero!	Maria Stoner
1969	100 Rifles	Sarita
1970	Myra Breckinridge	Myra Breckinridge
1971	Hannie Caulder	Hannie Caulder
1972	Bluebeard	Magdalena
1973	The Last of Sheila	Alice Wood
1973	The Three Musketeers	Constance Bonacieux	Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical
1974	The Four Musketeers	Constance Bonacieux
1975	The Wild Party	Queenie
1976	Mother, Jugs & Speed	Jennifer a.k.a. "Jugs"
1977	The Prince and the Pauper	Lady Edith	Also known as Crossed Swords
1998	Chairman of the Board	Grace Kosik	Nominated: Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress
1999	Get Bruce	Herself	Documentary
2001	Legally Blonde	Mrs. Windham-Vandermark
2001	Tortilla Soup	Hortensia
2006	Forget About It	Christine DeLee
2017	How to Be a Latin Lover	Celeste Birch

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1964-1965	The Hollywood Palace	Billboard Girl	Season 1 Regular
1964	The Virginian	Saloon Girl	Episode: "Ryker"
1964	McHale's Navy	Lt. Wilson	Episode: "McHale, the Desk Commando"
1964	Bewitched	Stewardess	Episode: "Witch or Wife" (S01EP09)
1964	The Rogues	Miss France	Episode: "Hugger-Mugger, by the Sea"
1965	Wendy and Me	Lila Harrison	Episode: "Wendy Sails in the Sunset"
1965	The Baileys of Balboa	Beverly	Episode: "Sam's Nephew"
1979	Mork & Mindy	Captain Nirvana	Episode: "Mork vs. the Necrotons"
1982	The Legend of Walks Far Woman	Walks Far Woman	TV MovieBronze Wrangler for Fictional Television Drama
1987	Right to Die	Emily Bauer	TV MovieNominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film
1988	Scandal in a Small Town	Leda Beth Vincent	TV Movie
1989	Trouble in Paradise	Rachel	TV Movie
1993	Tainted Blood	Elizabeth Hayes	TV Movie
1993	Torch Song	Paula Eastman	TV Movie
1993	Evening Shade	Cynthia Gibson	Episode: "Small Town Girl"
1995	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Diana Stride	Episode: "Top Copy"
1996	Sabrina the Teenage Witch	Aunt Vesta	Episode: "Third Aunt from the Sun"
1997-2000	Spin City	Abby Lassiter	Episodes: "Porn in the U.S.A.", "A River Runs Through Me", "Balloons over Broadway"
2002	American Family	Aunt Dora	Season 1 Semi-Regular
2004	8 Simple Rules	Jackie	Episode: "Vanity Unfair"
2008	Welcome to The Captain	Charlene Van Ark	Series Regular
2012	CSI: Miami	Vina Navarro	Episode: "Rest in Pieces"
2013	House of Versace	Aunt Lucia	TV Movie
2015	The Ultimate Legacy	Miss Sally May Anderson	TV Movie
2017	Date My Dad	Rosa	TV series

Mork & Mindy

Raquel Welch's appearance on Mork & Mindy is both famous and infamous. Resulting from ABC-TVs intent to increase the T&A / 'jiggle factor' in their shows (lending the 2nd season of the show an even more uneven feel), Welch, Broadway star and dancer, Vicky Frederick (of Dancin' and A Chorus Line fame), and Playboy Playmate of the Year Debra Jo Fondren were brought in to play Nirvana, Sutra and Kama, members of the Necroton Black Army, the Orkan's nemeses

While Frederick and Fondren are remembered fondly by the cast and crew of the show, the same cannot be said of Welch's appearance. Cast as Captain Nirvana, the leader of the expedition to find Mork, extract his knowledge of Earth and make the call whether to invade or destroy the planet, Welch reportedly caused disruption both prior to and through the shoot.

Gary Marshall recounted how, on her first day at work on the show he went to visit her and "I asked Raquel if there was anything I could do for her. She startled me when she she said, 'Buy me a television.'. I of course wanted to make her as happy as possible, so I bought it for her. I thought she wanted it for her dressing room, but she took the TV right home.''

Howard Storm the show's director recalls at length the issues that were had on set. "Raquel Welch was any director’s nightmare,” according to Storm.

"The first day, we do the read-through. Raquel is on my right and the two girls are on her right. After the read through, we dismiss everybody but the star and then we aks, "Do you have any questions?" Present are Bruce Johnson and Dale McRaven, who are the Exec Producers, Garry Marshall, Pam Dawber, Robin, Raquel and me. Raquel says, 'Yes. Who are the girls that are going to play my lieutenants?' I tell her 'The two girls who just read with you'. She says 'Oh I didn't notice them.' I ask 'Anything else, Raquel?' She says 'Yes my entrance doesn't work. They can't come in before me. I have to come in first.' I tell her, 'But Raquel, if you come in first.' I tell her, 'But Raquel, if you come in first and they come in after you, they're going to pull the eye away from. The idea is that one girl comes, walks downstage left, poses and, and the audience knows that's not you. There's anticipation. The other girl comes in, walks downstage right, poses. No, that's not you. And then you enter and you're center stage and there you are, flanked by your two lieutenants!' Raquel says 'No, they can't come in before me, but I have an idea. Supposing they wear dog masks and I lead them in leashes.'"

Storm recalls how this led to a direct issue with Pam Dawber, "While we're rehearsing, she's still pushing for dog masks, but we're not going to do that. Robin tells her, 'the entrance is really good as it stands. Its exciting.'" Robin was trying to talk her around to their idea as having the other girls playing her Lieutenants come in after her, would take focus away from her (the opposite of what Welch was actually going for). As Robin was trying to explain it to her. Pam who was with him says “You know, Raquel, Robin is right.” "Raquel steps in front of Pam, blocking her off from Robin, saying, “Honey, please.” Then she turns her back on Pam and continues talking to Robin"

“Pam made a fist and made believe she was hitting [Raquel Welch] in the back of the head, and walked away,” says Storm. After that, “Pam would do that every time she came on stage. She’d sneak up behind Raquel, and make believe she was punching her in the head."

"Raquel," he recalled, "has her fiancé with her, a Frenchman named Andre Weinfeld who has worked in French TV. He stands behind me and every time I give her a note, I see her look past me to see what Andre thinks. After awhile, I start to spin around really fast to catch him giving her either a nod or a shake of the head. One day I tell her, 'Raquel, I need you a little closer to Robin for the two-shot. You realize that's one of the most brilliant notes a director has ever given an actress.' She says, 'What are you talking about?' I say, 'I know it's great because Andre agreed with me,' and I walk away. The fight ends in a split decision. Raquel gets to make her entrance before the two girls, but we nix the dog masks."