Editing Raquel Welch (section)

== Early life ==

Welch was born Jo Raquel Tejada on September 5, 1940, in [[Chicago]], Illinois, and moved to [[San Diego]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-16 |title=A look back at Raquel Welch's San Diego ties |url=https://fox5sandiego.com/entertainment/a-look-back-at-raquel-welchs-san-diego-ties/ |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Acclaimed Actress Raquel Welch, A Former San Diegan, Dies at C82 {{!}} East County Magazine |url=https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/acclaimed-actress-raquel-welch-former-san-diegan-dies-82 |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=www.eastcountymagazine.org}}</ref> California, at age two with her family. She was the first child of Josephine Sarah Hall and Armando Carlos Tejada Urquizo.<ref name="hollywood" /><ref name="Beyond">{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6AAgIOm2XcEC&q=Raquel%3A+Beyond+the+Cleavage+windy+&pg=PA4 |title = Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage |first = Raquel |last = Welch |date = 2010 |publisher = Hachette Books |isbn = 9781602861176 |access-date = March 17, 2020 |archive-date = February 15, 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230215211437/https://books.google.com/books?id=6AAgIOm2XcEC&q=Raquel%3A+Beyond+the+Cleavage+mediterranean&pg=PA4 |page=4 |quote=I was born in 1940 in the Windy City, Chicago. Not ideal for a new-born baby girl. |url-status = live }}</ref> Her mother was of [[English Americans|English]] descent with ancestors tracing back to the [[Mayflower]]; she was the daughter of Clara Louise Adams and architect Emery Stanford Hall.<ref>{{cite book |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=6AAgIOm2XcEC&q=Raquel%3A+Beyond+the+Cleavage+mother+was+anglo+mayflower&pg=PA4 |title = Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage |quote=My mother was Anglo. Her ancestry dated back to John Quincy Adams and the Mayflower |page= 4|first = Raquel |last = Welch |date = 2010 |publisher = Hachette Books |isbn = 9781602861176 }} [https://archive.org/details/beyondcleavage0000welc_j9i1/page/4/mode/2up?q=Anglo Alt URL]</ref><ref name="sd1958">{{cite web |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/local-history/story/2023-02-19/from-the-archives-in-1958-interview-18-year-old-raquel-had-heart-set-on-professional-acting-career |title=In 1958 interview 18-year-old Raquel had heart set on professional acting career |website=[[The San Diego Union-Tribune]] |quote= She favors her father, Armand C. Tejada, and aircraft engineer and native of Bolivia. His parents went to Bolivia from Spain. Her mother, the former Josephine Hall, is blond, English and American with ancestors traced to colonial times.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240620015254/https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2023/02/19/in-1958-interview-18-year-old-raquel-had-heart-set-on-professional-acting-career/ |archive-date=June 20, 2024 |date=June 24, 1958 |url-status=live}}</ref> Her father was an [[aeronautical engineer]] from [[La Paz]], Bolivia,<!-- DO NOT LINK, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] for further guidance --> of [[Spanish people|Spanish]] descent; he was the son of Raquel Urquizo and Agustin Tejada.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.geni.com/people/Armando-Tejada-Urquizo/3863599 |title = Armando Tejada in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro immigration cards 1900: (Agustin Tejada and Raquel Urquizo) |date = May 19, 1911 |access-date = March 17, 2020 |archive-date = August 6, 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200806162816/https://www.geni.com/people/Armando-Tejada-Urquizo/3863599 |url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="sd1958" /><ref>{{cite web |url = https://archive.org/details/WETA_20100420_040000_Tavis_Smiley |title = Tavis Smiley |date = April 20, 2010 |access-date = March 17, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6AAgIOm2XcEC&q=Raquel%3A+Beyond+the+Cleavage+mediterranean&pg=PA4 |title = Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage |first = Raquel |last = Welch |quote = "I was born in 1940 in the Windy City, Chicago. Not ideal for a newborn baby girl with thin Mediterranean blood, courtesy of my Spanish father." |page = 4 |date = 2010 |publisher = Hachette Books |isbn = 9781602861176 |access-date = March 17, 2020 |archive-date = February 15, 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230215211437/https://books.google.com/books?id=6AAgIOm2XcEC&q=Raquel%3A+Beyond+the+Cleavage+mediterranean&pg=PA4 |url-status = live}}</ref> Her cousin, Bolivian politician [[Lidia Gueiler Tejada]], became the first female president of Bolivia and the second female non-royal head of state in the Americas.<ref>{{cite web |first = Phil |last = Davison |url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/lidia-gueiler-tejada-politician-who-became-only-the-wests-second-female-president-2282573.html |title = Lidia Gueiler Tejada: Politician who became only the West's second female president |website = [[The Independent]] |date = May 12, 2011 |access-date = March 17, 2020 |archive-date = March 26, 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190326124752/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/lidia-gueiler-tejada-politician-who-became-only-the-wests-second-female-president-2282573.html |url-status = live }}</ref> Welch had a younger brother, James ("Jim"), and a younger sister, Gayle.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/gayle-tejada-obituary?pid=195983404 |title = Gayle Carole Tejada |date = March 2020 |website = Legacy.com |access-date = September 5, 2020 |archive-date = March 6, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210306031533/https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/gayle-tejada-obituary?pid=195983404 |url-status = live }}</ref>

Welch was raised in the [[Presbyterian]] religion and attended Pacific Beach Presbyterian Church every Sunday with her family.<ref name="hollywood">{{cite web | url=https://walkoffame.com/raquel-welch/#:~:text=Raquel%20was%20raised%20in%20the,%2C%20James%20Welch%2C%20in%201959 | website=Hollywood Walk of Fame | title=Raquel Welch | date=October 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224141021/https://walkoffame.com/raquel-welch/ |archive-date=December 24, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.movieguide.org/news-articles/raquel-welch-remembered-as-a-strong-christian.html | website=Movie Guide | title=Raquel Welch Remembered as a Strong Christian | date=February 28, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Welch |first1=Raquel |title=Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage |date=2010 |page=8 |publisher=Hachette Books |isbn=978-1-60286-117-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6AAgIOm2XcEC&q=Raquel:%20Beyond%20the%20Cleavage%20pacific%20beach%20presbyterian |quote=Mom attended church every Sunday with all three of us kids in tow... dressed up and polished. We attended the Pacific Beach Presbyterian Church. }} [https://archive.org/details/beyondcleavage0000welc_j9i1/page/8/mode/2up?q=%22pacific+beach+presbyterian%22 Alt URL]</ref> As a young girl, Welch had the desire to be a performer and entertainer. She began studying ballet at age seven, but after ten years of study, she left the art at seventeen when her instructor told her she did not have the right body type for professional ballet companies.<ref>{{cite web |last = Avery |first = Susan |title = Raquel Welch, Reluctant Sex Symbol, Talks About Making Amends With Her Kids |url = http://www.parentdish.com/2010/05/12/raquel-welch-reluctant-sex-symbol-talks-about-making-amends-wi/ |publisher = ParentDish.com |date = July 10, 2010 |access-date = July 10, 2010 |archive-date = May 16, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100516131923/http://www.parentdish.com/2010/05/12/raquel-welch-reluctant-sex-symbol-talks-about-making-amends-wi/ |url-status = live }}</ref> At age 14, she won [[beauty pageant|beauty titles]] as Miss Photogenic and Miss Contour.<ref name="Otfinoski2007" /> While attending [[La Jolla High School]] she won the title of Miss La Jolla and the title of Miss San Diego{{snds}}the Fairest of the Fair{{snds}}at the [[San Diego County Fair]].<ref>{{cite web |title = The way we were – 'Fairest of the Fair' part of Del Mar's history |first = Diane |last = Welch |date = March 19, 2006 |work = The San Diego Union-Tribune |url = http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060319/news_m1m19history.html |access-date = June 16, 2011 |archive-date = June 16, 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110616031906/http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060319/news_m1m19history.html |url-status = live }}</ref> This long line of beauty contests eventually led to the state title of Maid of California.<ref name="auto1">Stone, Joe. (June 24, 1958). [https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/local-history/story/2023-02-19/from-the-archives-in-1958-interview-18-year-old-raquel-had-heart-set-on-professional-acting-career/ "Fairest Queen's a Triple-A Girl"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318011823/https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/local-history/story/2023-02-19/from-the-archives-in-1958-interview-18-year-old-raquel-had-heart-set-on-professional-acting-career |date=March 18, 2023 }} ''Evening Tribune''. Retrieved March 17, 2023, from The San Diego Tribune.</ref> Her parents divorced when she finished her school years.<ref name="Welch, Raquel 2010">Welch, Raquel. (2010). ''Raquel Welch: Beyond the Cleavage''. New York: Weinstein Books. pp. 3–28.</ref>

Welch graduated with honors from high school in 1958.<ref>{{cite web |title = Yearbook – 1958 La Jolla High School La Jolla, CA |url = http://www.classmates.com/yearbooks/La-Jolla-High-School/23116?page=22 |website = Classmates.com |access-date = July 15, 2014 |archive-date = October 17, 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141017025614/http://www.classmates.com/yearbooks/La-Jolla-High-School/23116?page=22 |url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="auto1"/> Seeking an acting career, she entered [[San Diego State College]] on a theater arts scholarship,<ref name=glamour>{{cite web |title = RaquelWelch |url = http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/668/ |publisher = Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen |access-date = August 15, 2013 |archive-date = September 27, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130927082128/http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/668/ |url-status = live }}</ref> and the following year she married her high school sweetheart, James Welch. She assumed his last name and kept it throughout her life.<ref>Giammarco, David. (2001, July & Aug.). [https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/raquel-welch-the-goddess-factor-6154/ "Raquel Welch: The Goddess Factor"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117123718/https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/raquel-welch-the-goddess-factor-6154 |date=November 17, 2017 }} ''Cigar Aficionado''</ref> She won several parts in local theater productions.<ref name="Otfinoski2007" />

In 1960, Welch got a job as a [[weather presenter]] at [[KFMB-TV|KFMB]], a local San Diego television station.<ref>{{Cite web |url = https://www.cbs8.com/gallery/news/local/throwback/raquel-welch-during-her-time-at-news-8-in-san-diego/509-ff441ea7-4d78-4f56-ac0d-43ad9e78487c |title = Raquel Welch during her time at CBS 8 in San Diego |date = April 18, 2019 |website = cbs8.com |access-date = February 16, 2023 |archive-date = February 16, 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230216022658/https://www.cbs8.com/gallery/news/local/throwback/raquel-welch-during-her-time-at-news-8-in-san-diego/509-ff441ea7-4d78-4f56-ac0d-43ad9e78487c |url-status = live }}</ref> 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]], Texas, where she made a "precarious living" as a model for [[Neiman Marcus]] and as a [[cocktail waitress]].<ref name="Otfinoski2007" />