GEORGE WAYNE Q & A

VANITIES

Raquel Welch’s fantastic voyage

Ever since her debut as a molecule-size scientist in Fantastic Voyage, Raquel Welch has been celebrated as one of the great American sex symbols, and roles with names such as Lilian Lust and Priestess of the Whip have not dampened the phenomenon. On the eve of the release of her new film Legally Blonde, the still lovely and talented Welch speculates on Mae West’s true gender, strategically placed wigs, and that famous fur bikini.

George Wayne: Give me your laundry list of upcoming projects.

Raquel Welch: Let’s see, there is Legally Blonde, where I’m playing a very rich, self-serving, bitchy character ...

G.W.Well, that doesn’t sound like much of a stretch, does it?

R.W. Oh, thank you, at least for the rich part. And then there is the Tortilla Soup movie. And the skin-care products, Raquel Timeless Beauty Skin Care.

G.W.I guess that would be the perfect complement to the Raquel Welch Signature Collection of Wigs & Extensions. When did you get into the wig business?

R.W. Actually, I think I sort of flipped my wig when I played Victor/Victoria on Broadway.

G.W.You must mean your off-set tantrums, which were so well recorded.

R.W. Yes, absolutely, the breaking of the mirrors, and flinging things around the dressing room ...

G.W.And not getting along with Blake Edwards.

R.W. Whatever.

G.W.So tell me about the wigs.

R.W. I had to wear wigs in Victor/Victoria. As a result of that, each night when I left the theater I would wear a wig. That year I even wore a wig to the Tony Awards, sort of the exact replica of what my hair was styled like. Then, lo and behold, somebody came to me and asked would I be interested in doing a wig line.

G.W.Any plans to market merkins?

R.W. What are merkins?

G.W.Pubic-hair wigs.

R.W. Oh my God! What is this—The Howard Stern Show?

G.W.Where would Raquel be without One Million Years B.C.?

R.W. Oh, absolutely! I don’t know. This was a piece of good luck that fell into my lap. Dick Zanuck called very excited and said, “We’re going to put you in One Million Years B.C.," and I said, “What is that?” He sent over this book of Hollywood history, and I found the page where it was this dinosaur movie starring Victor Mature and Carole Landis. And I thought this was a fate worse than death. Dick said, “Don’t be a silly girl. This is a classic.”

G.W.Can you still fit into that fur bikini 30 years later?

R.W. I don’t know. I could get it out and try.

G.W.You still have it?!

R.W. Oh yeah. I have that one, and the one from Myra Breckinridge too. I gave a replica of that to Christie’s to auction for the Actors Studio. Not that anyone would ever know that I’ve studied. I think that’s clear—that I never studied with the Actors Studio before One Million Years B. C.

G.W.But it made you famous.

R.W. The face of the 60s ... all these accolades. The world was at my feet.

G.W.How is marriage to the pizza man?

R.W. Well, let’s say it’s a hot slice of life. Richie is great. He really is. He is nothing like what people think.

G.W.Great sex?

R.W. I suppose you could say that, but I don’t like to comment on things like that in public.

G.W.James Mason once said, "Raquel Welch is the rudest, most unprofessional actress I’ve ever had the displeasure of working with, and if I could, I would spank her from here to Aswan.”

R.W. Poor James, God rest his soul. He was a brilliant actor but a lousy human being.

G.W.How did you get involved with Myra Breckinridge?

R.W. That was a Fox picture again. And I know this is leading up to Mae West, so just ask the question.

G.W.What was she like on the set?

R.W. I was always trying to figure out whether she was a man or not.

G.W.Raquel! How could you say that?

R.W. You just had to be there, to look right into her face, and see those man’s hands and that man’s neck, those wigs she wore, the mink eyelashes, the false fingernails ...

G.W.You are declaring that Mae West was actually born a man?

R.W. I think so. But then again I’m not the first person to say that. But I have a lot of respect for her. Mae was brilliant. She was an absolute legend.

G.W.And you are swell, Raquel.

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