In the 1960s, Raquel Welch became well-known as a sex icon. She has now passed away. She was 82.

Raquel Welch passed away on Wednesday at her Los Angeles home, according to her son Damon, following a brief illness.

He said, “She died without feeling any discomfort.” We missed Christmas with her for three years when she was doing it; she said that was the toughest thing. I’m very happy of what she did to society, her profession, and everything. But I’m most proud of her doing the U.S.O. tours with Bob Hope in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Welch’s career began in the 1960s with appearances on television programs like Bewitched, McHale’s Navy, and The Virginian.

That opened the door for her to land two consecutive roles in Fantastic Voyage and One Million Years B.C., the latter of which propelled her to sex icon status. Welch went on to appear in a number of movies, such as The Three Musketeers (1974), for which she won a Golden Globe for best actress in a motion picture comedy or musical. In the 1970 movie Myra Breckinridge, in which she played a trans actress, Welch also played a trans woman.

Damon Welch, her son, and Tahnee Welch, her daughter, are the two children she leaves behind.

With a Bolivian father and an American mother, Welch was born Jo-Raquel Tejada in Chicago, Illinois.

Although she avoided addressing her identity in the early years of her career, the actress came to terms with her Latinidad in the early 2000s, speaking freely about her origin and taking on Latina parts like Hortensia in the movie Tortilla Soup and Aunt Dora in the PBS series American Family.

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Yolanda Machado, editor of Entertainment Weekly and a film reviewer, remarked, “Raquel Welch was a screen icon during a time when Latinos were rarely offered any work in Hollywood (unless it was a stereotype).” She had to conceal her identity in order to thrive, but regardless how difficult it may have been, she did so with remarkable performances that served as a window into a whole generation.

Welch said in 2002 that although she didn’t try to hide her Bolivian origin on purpose, it wasn’t a big part of her family’s culture because her father tried to assimilate as much as possible.

She said that in order to succeed in the American system, some Latino characteristics have to be somewhat suppressed. We never lived in a neighborhood with other Latinos, and I didn’t know any Latin people. He never spoke any Spanish at home to avoid giving us an accent.

Welch continued by stating that even though she somewhat disagreed with his decision to conceal their history, she recognized that he was attempting to shield the family from prejudice and discrimination.

On January 16, 2005, actress Raquel Welch attended the 62nd annual Golden Globe Awards.

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But Welch continued to advance for diversity in Hollywood as Latinos did 40 years into her career.

At a National Press Club Luncheon in 2002, she asserted that Latinos were here to stay. “I’m proud to be Latina, Raquel, as a citizen.”

Although Welch’s history may have surprised some, political cartoonist and TV writer Lalo Alcaraz said he’s proud that Latinos can declare she is a member of the community.

Alcaraz remarked, “We don’t have that many stars. “I’m glad and proud that Raquel Welch is regarded as one of our stars.”