Who are Raquel Welch’s husbands? Inside her four marriages
By Mia Tucker
As tributes to Raquel Welch flood social media, find out who her husbands are and delve inside the star’s four marriages.
The American actress died peacefully on Wednesday morning (February 15) after a brief illness aged 82, the star’s family told TMZ.
Her career kicked off in the 60s when she signed a contract with 20th Century Fox and starred in the sci-fi movie Fantastic Voyage.
Some of her other notable roles include Legally Blonde (2001), One Million Years B.C. (1966), Hannie Caulder (1971), and Bedazzled (1967).
She also won a Golden Globe for her role in the 1974 film The Three Musketeers and was an international sex symbol in her career.
Read on to find out more about Raquel Welch’s marriages after her death…
Raquel Welch wasn’t married in 2023
The American actress wasn’t married at the time of her death, and her most recent relationship was with TV mogul Nigel Lythgoe.
She dated the English television and film director and producer, also known as Nasty Nigel, from 2010 to 2015 after being friends for years.
Before that, the Legally Blonde star was married to her fourth husband Richie Palmer for almost a decade from 1999 to 2008.
He runs a chain of pizza restaurants in Beverly Hills, the Daily Mail reports, and they separated in 2003. Richie is 20 years younger than her.
Welch’s first husband was her high school sweetheart
Raquel married her first husband James Westley Welch in 1959. The pair met at high school and were married for five years until 1964.
They wed while attending San Diego State College and had two children by the time she was 21, son Damon Welch and daughter Tahnee Welch.
Following their separation, the star moved to Los Angeles with the children to pursue her acting career – and she kept his surname.
She didn’t have any children with her next three husbands. Both Damon and Tahnee have followed in their mother’s acting footsteps and have appeared in movies.
The actress’ two other marriages
After James Welch, the 82-year-old went on to marry her second husband, American film producer Patrick Curtis, in 1967.
He was instrumental in promoting her career and produced a number of movies starring her including A Swingin’ Summer (1965) and The Beloved (1970).
They divorced in 1972 after six years of marriage and the actress then walked down the aisle with her third husband André Weinfeld in 1980.
He is a French American producer, director, screenwriter, cinematographer, photographer, and journalist, and they divorced in 1990.
