The Skimpy Fur Bikini That Turned Raquel Welch Into a Sex Symbol Almost Ended Her Life

Raquel Welch became an instant sex symbol in the entertainment industry by donning a skimpy fur bikini for the film One Million Years B.C. Her emergence from the sea wearing this legendary costume propelled her to international fame throughout the 1960s and ’70s. However, filming in the clothing almost led to her death due to on-set weather conditions that were less than hospitable.

‘One Million Years B.C.’ was Raquel Welch’s ticket to fame

Raquel Welch’s breakthrough role was in the 1966 campy prehistoric flick One Million Years B.C. Her place in film history was cemented after donning a brown doeskin bikini.

She once told The Los Angeles Times, “I am not a fool. I’m not Meryl Streep. I was somebody that got rocketed into the spotlight and superstardom overnight. I knew this would give me an opportunity, and I should make the best of it.”

“There were so many things going for me, but with it came many stereotypical opinions about my abilities and who I was,” the actor said. “I felt a rite of passage where I am over that part where I have to run around in a bikini forever,” she told The LA Times in 2010. “It’s just so painfully uncomfortable and, in a way, kind of humiliating.”

The role would cement her place as a sex symbol. However, it also came at a cost. Raquel almost died after filming in harsh conditions unsuitable for such skimpy clothing.

The skimpy fur bikini that turned Raquel Welch into a sex symbol almost ended her life

Raquel Welch played cavewoman Loana in the campy film One Million Years B.C., which told the story of a prehistoric person named Tumak (John Richardson), who was banished from his savage tribe. He meets Loana, who belongs to a gentler coastal tribe. To win her favor, he must fight caveman Payto.

Fox News reported that filming commenced in the winter on location in the volcanic Canary Islands. Filming conditions were so severe Raquel became very ill and, in her own words, “almost died.” The harsh conditions and wearing very little clothing was a recipe for disaster.

She told the news outlet, “We were so far from civilization. There was a hotel at the bottom of the volcano near the sea. And I was at the top. And it was snowing!”

Raquel eventually developed tonsillitis while on the set. “I had already so much penicillin when I was wearing the fur bikini that I almost died,” she claimed.

“I had to rush, turn my car around, head right back to the doctor’s office, just run upstairs, jump in the elevator, and all that,” the actor continued. “And I barely got there. They had to shoot me with an antidote. Otherwise, I would have died. It was a rough shoot, man. Rough. And then I came to London, and everybody knew who I was.”

The actor admitted fans wouldn’t let her forget that iconic role

In 2017, Raquel Welch said that fans would never let her forget the role that made her a superstar. In turn, the actors said she didn’t get sick of talking about the fur bikini.

“I’m often asked if I get sick of talking about that bikini, but the truth is, I don’t,” she told The Sunday Post. “It was a major event in my life, so why not talk about it? Almost every day, I get copies of the photo sent to me for an autograph. I must have looked at that photo one million times!”

Raquel Welch died after a brief illness on Feb. 15, 2023, at 82 years old. At the time of her death, Welch had an estimated net worth of $40 million.