Celebrities are paying their respects to Raquel Welch, who died at 82.
The actress’s longtime manager, Steve Sauer, said she had “passed away quietly early this morning following a brief illness.”
“I was devastated to learn of Raquel Welch’s death. I loved working with you on Legally Blonde,” she says. Witherspoon, 46, shared a photo of Welch on Twitter. “She was incredibly classy, competent, and stunning. Simply magnificent. May all her angels carry her home.”
Director Paul Feig stated on social media that working with Welch was “a great pleasure” and that “we’ve lost a true icon.”
“This is awful,” he wrote in a tweet. “I had the pleasure of working with Ms. Welch when I was a regular on Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and she was fantastic. For the majority of my life, I was head over heels in love with this true rockstar. She was wonderful, funny, and kind.”
“I know she’s famous for bigger/more notable things (essentially inventing the bikini), but for me, Shake Your Whammy Fanny is permanently etched on my brain,” musician Tom Aspaul tweeted, along with a clip from the late ’90s adolescent sitcom Welch appeared in.
Former Melrose Place cast member Antonio Sabato Jr. praised her “great beauty, grace & brilliance” in a tweet that included a clip of her speaking on The Dick Cavett Show.
ABC News journalist Deborah Roberts noted in a tweet that Welch “lit up cinema screens for years with her beauty and personality,” and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit actor Christopher Meloni expressed a similar sentiment. “Raquel Welch dying is a very strange emotion,” he wrote.
Welch made her film debut in the middle of the 1960s, with breakthrough performances in Fantastic Voyage and One Million Years B.C.
“The death of iconic actress Raquel Welch, who played Loana in Ray Harryhausen’s classic 1966 film ‘One Million Years B.C.,’ saddened us. a legendary part that gave rise to one of the most famous movie posters ever. Our thoughts are with her family during this difficult time,” they wrote.
After that, Welch went on to star in a slew of films, including 1973’s The Three Musketeers, for which she won a Golden Globe for best actress in a motion picture comedy or musical.
Laraine Newman, who hosted Saturday Night Live, collaborated with Welch and described a pleasant moment they shared.
“I played Lina Wermuller in a sketch with Raquel Welch when she hosted Saturday Night Live,” the SNL veteran explained. It was omitted because she preferred to sing a song, but a few years later, she sent me an autographed Wertmuller postcard from Italy. “Goodbye, dear lady.”
Bruno Amato added a personal touch to his tribute by posting a photo of himself and Welch on Twitter.
“This was 7 years ago,” the Abbott Elementary actor recalled. “I was working on ‘Baby Daddy,’ and she was a guest on ‘The Talk.’” Our changing rooms were strangely close together. I was in awe of her because she was so sweet while still being such a big bombshell.”
Melissa Rivers wrote about Welch in a tweet that included a photo of the actress and her mother, Joan Rivers, who died in 2014 at 81: “Stunning, risqué, chic, and vibrant.”
Raquel Welch embodied all of these characteristics. She was more than just a pretty face; she exuded glamour. RIP.”
