Born at 2:04pm-CDT

Auditioned for the role of Mary Ann in "Gilligan's Island" (1964).

Was a former cocktail waitress.

Measurements: 37C-22 1/2-35 1/2 (measured in 1967), 37-23 1/2-35 1/2 (from 1980 fitting), 37D-26-36 (@ age 43 in 1985), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)

Second husband, producer Patrick Curtis reportedly played the baby of Olivia de Havilland in Gone with the Wind (1939).

Turned down the lead in Barbarella (1968) - which eventually went to Jane Fonda.

Among her many beauty contest titles were "Miss Photogenic", "Miss Contour" and "Miss Maid of California" - all won while she was in her teens.

One of the bombshells shown in The Shawshank Redemption (1994). (The other two were Rita Hayworth and Marilyn Monroe.)

Mother of Damon Welch.

Husband Richard Palmer is a restaurateur.

Her father is Bolivian.

Profiled in the book "Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Films and Television, 1962-1973" by Tom Lisanti and Louis Paul (McFarland, 2002).

Son Damon Welch married the daughter of England and Yorkshire cricket legend Freddie Trueman.

Mother of Tahnee Welch.

Miss Fairest of the Fair, San Diego, Ca. [1957]

30 August 2003 - Broke her wrist in a Los Angeles car crash.

Dated producer Robert Evans with whom she attended Super Bowl (X) at Miami's Orange Bowl in 1976

Graduated La Jolla High School, La Jolla, California. [1957]

In 1970, she accepted the Oscar for "Best Actress in a Supporting Role" on behalf of Goldie Hawn, who wasn't present at the awards ceremony

The Raquel Welch Total Beauty and Fitness Program was published in 1984

Never appeared nude in a film or posed nude for a magazine.

Mentioned in the theme song of the 1980s TV hit "The Fall Guy" (1981).

Has a home on the private island of Mustique

She was fired from Cannery Row (1982) and replaced by Debra Winger. She then sued MGM and won a $10 million judgement.

Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#18). [1995]