Posted on 2/15/2023

Raquel Welch starred in one of the first two R-rated movies I ever saw, as a young teen (a double bill with Hannie Caulder and Hammer's Twins Of Evil). I feel confident enough in recalling the impact she made at the time to call her an icon, but perhaps on a lower tier than Marilyn. Lots of women have been sexy in films and popular culture since, but as you say, Eric, there have been surprisingly few on the level we're talking about. Some people would put Farrah Fawcett (Majors) in that category, but I never thought she was at the same level as Raquel or Marilyn. First Tom Verlaine and now Raquel in 2023, dead "after a brief illness." I'm not a vax conspiracy person, but it does make me wonder what these brief illnesses were.

Posted on 2/15/2023

Yeah, hard to get into an R-rated movie when you're like 12 so like I said, I just had to wait until her movies were all on TV.  Anyway, while I was also someone who was enamored of Ms Fawcett, I just didn't feel like she was able to parlay her Charlie's Angel fame into anything lasting.  She did one good TV show (for one season), sold a ton of posters (well, one particular poster), and made a few really bad movies.  But certainly her beauty and impact can't be denied.  As far as that whole "brief illness" thing, I think the first time I heard it was after Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac died.  It was an odd thing to hear, but even more odd that it's been used so frequently since then.  Of course when it comes to older individuals, almost any illness could be life threatening.  I mean, it probably wouldn't take long for pneumonia to kill someone in their 80's.  But yeah, Raquel was special.  Thanks for the comment my friend.

Posted on 2/16/2023

Certainly sad to hear of the death of one of (for me) the great iconic screen hero(ine)s of my youth. 

But please shy away from even bringing up the whole vaccine issue - it shows just why idiotic conspiracy theories abound. Most people are said to die either after a brief illness or a long illness....and the exact causes are nobody else's business. Pneumonia is the commonest cause of death overall - and the afflicted indivdual can go from perfectly well to having died in less than 24 hours. Also true of heart attack, stroke, aneurysms etc etc. If you are the sort of person who likes to beleive in such conspiracies you can always find 'evidence'. But it's not true. 

Posted on 2/16/2023

This is going way off topic for this memorial post, but let me first say that I agree with you 1000%, it is absolutely no one else’s business. With that said, in hindsight, it might have been wiser for Mark not to include the phrase “vax conspiracy” in his comment. But I certainly don’t think the inclusion makes him a conspiracy theorist (nor, does it make me one, when I echoed his curiosity). And he said as much when he qualified the statement. My mother is in her 80’s. And she reminds my sister and I (almost on a daily basis) that she could go at any time. Whenever she sees a celebrity death on TV, she always asks how old they were and what they died of? Does that mean she thinks there’s some sort of conspiracy? No, she’s just relating it to her own mortality. In regards to that term “brief illness”, I did reply to Mark that it could mean almost anything. Especially for those in advanced years. But I also admitted to sharing his curiosity about its frequent use in all the recent passings (meaning that term specifically). In the past, most press releases I recall would use terms like “unspecified illness” or “cause of death was not disclosed”. But having the words “brief Illness” used over, and over, and over, again, just prompted a natural curiosity. I honestly don’t think Mark’s comment was intended to stir up anything. But again, I do agree with you that the conspiracy pot is one best left unstirred. Anyway, my apologies for steering this WAY of topic. The focus, of course, should be on paying tribute to Ms. Welch and prayers for her grieving family.

Posted on 2/16/2023

This will be my last post on this subject. Malcolm, I don't disagree with a single thing you said. Eric very nicely pinpointed my reasoning behind mentioning vaxes at all in this context, and yes, it was indeed curiosity prompted by the  same phrase being repeated over and over recently in these news stories, "a brief illness," as opposed to some of the alternatives that Eric mentioned, which I, for one, am more used to hearing. This phrase became particularly alarming to me in the context of Tom Verlain'e death for personal reasons, since he was a hero of mine, and relatively young and in his early 70s. Also, my parents both passed away last summer, and the topic of mortality has been very much on my mind since, hence the curiosity.

1 - Posted on 2/15/2023

Mike Grell's inspiration for the Tara character in the Warlord series, and rightly so.

RIP Raquel 

1 - Posted on 2/15/2023

Wow!  I had absolutely no idea!  What an interesting bit of trivia.  Makes me want to go back and read it from the beginning and just imagine Raquel as Tara.  Thanks for the comment buddy.

Posted on 2/15/2023

RIP Fuzzy Britches.  A true icon.

Posted on 2/16/2023

One of my first celebrity crushes... RIP

Posted on 2/16/2023

I adored this beautiful sex symbol. At first she h8ted being called that. I watched a youTube clip of the Johnny Carson show shot just before filming on 1000 Rifles, she explained sex symbol seemed to be derivative, vapid, dumb..... she didn't want to be seen as that. She was very smart and undeniably gorgeous and she came to accept being a sex symbol because it was something out of her control. I remember she went on the Dave Letterman Show maybe his 4th year (very brave) he's a handful but she was so charming you couldn't help but love her. This news stunned me today, very sad may God keep her Rest in Peace Raquel.

Posted on 2/16/2023

R.I.P. Raquel. Another sad loss. Inappropriately, I have to say of your alternative choice photograph, all her photos were choice. She was beautiful.

Posted on 2/16/2023

Thanks Peter!  Honestly, if I was being selfish (and it IS my gallery after all), I probably would have chosen the smiling one.  Personally, I just think it's "prettier".  But I also recognized the other photo as being somewhat more "iconic" I guess?  So I ultimately went with that one for the main image.  But you're right, what makes someone a CLASSIC beauty is that it's almost impossible to take a bad photo.  Appreciate the comment my friend.

Posted on 2/18/2023

You write such beautiful tributes to the beloved figures that we have lost.  Thank you for that, Eric.  I don't recall seeing any of Raquel's movies, but I know she definitely made her mark on screen and was always a class act off screen.  Time to watch some of those old movies I think!