Profile Text
Welch in 2010, DFree / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Jo Raquel Tejada
Date of Birth: September 5, 1940
Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Date of Death: February 15, 2023
Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Ethnicity: * father – Bolivian * mother – English, as well as distant Welsh and Scottish
Raquel Welch was an American actress, model, and singer. Her films included Fantastic Voyage , One Million Years B.C. , Bedazzled , Bandolero! , 100 Rifles , Myra Breckinridge , Hannie Caulder , Kansas City Bomber , The Last of Sheila , The Three Musketeers (1974), Mother, Jugs & Speed , The Prince and the Pauper , Right to Die , Legally Blonde , Tortilla Soup , and How to Be a Latin Lover .
Her father, Armando Carlos Tejada-Urquizo, was born in La Paz, Bolivia. Her mother, Josephine Sarah “Jo” (Hall), was born in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, from a New England family, with roots in Massachusetts and Maine. She was of Colonial American descent, of English, and distant Welsh and Scottish, ancestry. Raquel had two children, including model and actress Tahnee Welch , with her former husband James Welch.
Raquel had stated in an interview that her father made it a point that his family did not speak Spanish in the house, as a way to assimilate into U.S. society. She said that she would like to speak Spanish more fluently.
Raquel was a cousin of Lidia Gueiler, who was President of Bolivia, from 16 November, 1979 to 17 July, 1980, and was its first female head of state; and of general Luis García Meza, who was the subsequent President of Bolivia, from 17 July, 1980 to 4 August, 1981. She was also a niece to some degree of economist and politician José Luis Tejada Sorzano, who was also President of Bolivia, from 1 December, 1934 to 17 May, 1936.
Raquel’s paternal grandfather was named Agustin Tejada.
Raquel’s paternal grandmother was named Raquel Urquizo.
Raquel’s maternal grandfather was Emery Stanford Hall, an architect (the son of Justin Smith Hall and Sarah Mehitable Stanford). Emery was born in Bergiss Springs Farm, near Chatsworth, Livingston, Illinois. Justin was born in Parkman, Piscataquis, Maine, the son of Elbridge Gerry Hall and Hannah Kent Robinson. Raquel’s great-grandmother Sarah was born in Lowell, LaSalle County, Illinois, the daughter of Emery/Emory Stanford, whose parents were from Vermont; and of Mary Lydia Elliott.
Raquel’s maternal grandmother was Clara Louise Adams (the daughter of Joseph Warren Adams and Josephine H. Merrill). Clara was born in Mendota, LaSalle County, Illinois, to parents from Maine. Joseph was born in Androscoggin County, Maine, the son of Elias Adams and Clarissa Vinton Thomas.
Sources: Genealogies of Raquel Welch – http://www.geni.com http://famouskin.com https://www.findagrave.com
Raquel’s parents on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Immigration record of Raquel’s father – https://familysearch.org
Genealogy of Raquel Welch (focusing on her mother’s side) – https://gw.geneanet.org