Raquel Welch

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 (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. Sarah was the daughter of Emery Stanford and 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 Illinois, to parents from Maine. Joseph was 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

Genealogies of Raquel Welch (focusing on her mother’s side) – https://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com
https://gw.geneanet.org

ethnic

Curious about ethnicity

35 Responses

  1. Angantyr says:

    The fact that ”Hispania”, Latino, Hispanic etc. are from Roamnce language terms is irrelevant to any discussion here. Are you saying that the mestizo people and Indigenous but Spanish speaking people of Latin America shouldn’t be proud of their native cultures? The native people of Latin America have lived their thousands of years until evil savages, that were often unpopular in their own country (Conquistadors), came in search of gold, land and slaves. I see no great pride in the Spanish conquest of the Americas and the fact that Mexicans and Bolivians – mostly native rather than Spanish – speak Spanish is very sad and a sign of the evils of the Spanish Empire. Your support for the Latinization of the Americans is quite telling. You are pretty much defending a brutal and cruel empire and the theft of land and destruction of native culture.

    No I would not say that bullfights, hand fans etc. were from Mexico. How is that the same as stating that most people in Bolivian and Mexico are of primarily native descent?

    Also, you should study anthropology. The Native Americans look more ”Hispanic” (e.g. people from Bolivia, Mexico etc.) because Bolivians are mostly Native American (which means natives from North and South America) and are related groups. Mexicans are mostly mestizo (mixed Spanish and native) but more native, and Mestizos are also the second biggest group in Bolivia.

    Raquel Welch is an obvious Mestizo, she also looks more like her father, who looks Mestizo and I see little resemblance between her and Sophia Loren (though as we are all the same race, people can look like people in different ethnicities without looking like they belong in that ethnicity).

  2. Raquelish says:

    I understand what your saying, she clearly seems to know wheee her father comes from, I’m sure she would of mentioned her heritage if had any other ancestries….maybe it’s so small that she just doesn’t think to mention it.

    In her new book, she clearly stats that she has mediteranean blood from her father……if you were to compare her to Sophia Loren whos italian for example they both look very similar ..without looking identical ofcourse…..
    See her mom here, I think she resembles her look..see yourself..
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRyVhgwbDNI

    Also, why do people talk about “American Indians” (also a european term after the italian “Americo” Vespucci!!) as if they have a Hispanic look more than the spanish people….since when did native American Indian = Hispanic looking….how can a person of an American indian tribe or ancestry be proud and then call themselves Hispanic or latino….both names are only used to identify with spoken Latin European languages and influenced cultures derived by the spanish or portuguese peoples…..next you’ll be saying that bullfighting , the spanish hand fan, the cowboy and the Spanish language began in mexico……the American continant was hispanized by the Spanish not the other way around…Hispania = is the Latin name given to the (iberian peninsula) both spain and Portugal by the Romans, that’s where the name comes from.

  3. Angantyr says:

    It does not matter if she says her father is Spanish, she is a blatant Bolivian native (partially, I do not doubt that her father was part Spanish, even mostly Spanish) and should be proud of it. Bolivia is greatly Native American, and it is rare to find anyone who is not part native. I think it said that she is obviously native yet doesn’t mention it. Infact, you look at the demographics of say, Bolivia (about 90+% Native and Mestizo (mostly indigenous but partlywith Spanish etc.), or Mexico (similar to Bolivia, more are Meztizo than only Native American) and then you see the majority of US actors with ancestry from those countries and they all happen to be ”Mexcian/Bolivia/Honduran/etc. of Spanish descent”. It is BS.

    Raquel Welch is a Mestizo if ever I saw one and should be proud of it. Her native ancestors were here a lot longer than the Spanish.

  4. Bored says:

    I’m sorry but Raquel Welch does not look all European. If her father was of Spanish Castillian descent that would be Europe. She looks like she has some Native of the America’s blood, whether that be from North or South America. But since I read her father was from Bolivia I would guess South America. She looks more hispanic than white to me. There was an old time actress name Merle Oberon who claimed to be all European. Her looks also betrayed her. It was later found that her mother was a brown skinned Indian that she claimed was her maid. Of course back then being anything but white meant death to your career, so she had no choice. Today people would find it more intriguing. Now I am not claiming that Raquel is doing this, but people seem to hesitate claiming any other heritage except European. It’s as if it lessens your value.

    • luisferd says:

      Bored,you are using the term Hispanic as a race.All countries (and people)connected to Spain are Hispanic,in others words,Hispanic is a CULTURE NOT A RACE,a Hispanic can be of any race,including white,and one example of that,is the Mexican-Argentinian actress Alexis Bledel,it is about time Americans correct that misconception

    • marjanel says:

      It is very interesting that in Usa looking hispanic is looking indigenous when must be the contrary,if México is hispanic is forma the white side not indigenous.It is like saying that lookin Anglo is looking native American

    • Thenabster says:

      I definitely do think her father was mostly Spanish but she did look Mestiza

      • Blahby says:

        Her father could have looked more like the Spanish side, but be Mestizo. My father and his brother look very European, but they’re mixed with Native people. In fact, you wouldn’t believe ‘how’ white some of them look…like they look more European than actual Europeans. His brother had green eyes, white features/skin/hair. I see so much denial on this website with people insisting that a phenotype=a genotype. It does not. There is also a huge denial about the influence Africa and Africans have had on Europe. They’ve been intermixing since forever. It would explain why some people admixed with Native American can look more white than some actual Europeans…because a Native American is probably closer to a European’s origin than an African if the Native Americans came from around Siberia…closer to the Nordic countries. My cousin looks very very Indigenous.

        • Blahby says:

          She had a child with a German and the girl looks nothing like her at all. You assume someone like Giselle Bunchen cannot have Native blood, but you might be wrong.

          • Blahby says:

            Her daughter also looks like a beautiful, caucasian model. She has a fully German half brother and he has a big chin and a geeky look…not like a model. I know another mixed Brazilian guy who looks like a model…but being South American, I know he has our blood along with Polish. My husband met his father and confirmed it to me. You might all be able to fool each other, but you will never fool us because we know what we/our families produce.

  5. Raquelfan says:

    See the link,
    http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/201004/20100419_welch.html

    You can read it, listen and watch the video. Says she’s or spanish descent and mentions her mother was descded from English descent….there is a spanish interivew that also says she has an english grandmother..many books say irish but in many interviews she only says anglo etc…

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