Raquel Welch, an American actress who is widely recognized with paving the way for modern-day action heroines in Hollywood films, has died at the age of 82. According to her manager, the actress died quietly on Wednesday morning following a brief illness.

In the 1960s, Welch became an international sex symbol, best known for her role as a bikini-clad cavewoman in the 1966 film One Million Years B.C. She also received a Golden Globe for her performance in The Three Musketeers in 1974.

Welch, who was born Jo-Raquel Tejada in 1940, grew up in California, where she competed in adolescent beauty pageants and later worked as a local weather forecaster. Raquel Welch’s Photographic Life

During a brief spell in Dallas, Texas, the divorced mother-of-two worked as a cocktail waitress and model for Neiman Marcus. Her major break came in 1964, shortly after she returned to California, when she appeared in the films A House Is Not a Home and Roustabout, both starring Elvis Presley.

Two years later, she shot to fame with back-to-back performances in the sci-fi picture Fantastic Voyage and the fantasy film One Million Years B.C. Welch only had a few words in the latter, but promotional stills of her in a tight two-piece deerskin bikini catapulted her to stardom.

Despite her public image, however, she has voiced discomfort with the representation of her body, once declaring she “was not brought up to be a sex symbol, nor is it in my nature to be one”.

“Becoming one is perhaps the most lovely, elegant, and fortunate misunderstanding,” she continued. Welch later addressed her image in her memoir, Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage, in which she discussed her childhood, her struggles as a single mother in Hollywood, and why she would never lie about her age.

Welch featured in nearly 30 films and 50 television series during his five-decade career. It featured roles as Frank Sinatra’s love interest in 1968’s Lady in Cement, the titular transgender heroine in 1970’s Myra Breckenridge, and a Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal in the 1987 TV drama Right to Die.

Later in life, she launched her own wig line, a jewelry and skincare collection, and a Mac Cosmetics makeup line. Reese Witherspoon was among those who paid respect, noting on Twitter that she “loved” working on Legally Blonde with Welch.

“She was beyond gorgeous, professional, and glamorous,” remarked Witherspoon. “Absolutely gorgeous.” Actress and producer Viola Davis posted a clip of her singing “I’m a Woman” with Cher in 1975, writing: “You were timeless to me…iconic”.

In 1978, she sang the same song with the renowned puppet Miss Piggy, earning a tribute from the beloved comedy show on Wednesday. ‘We’ll never forget our great friend Raquel Welch, one of our favorite Muppet Show guests,’ the Disney series tweeted.

Paul Feig, who starred in Sabrina the Teenage Witch, says he enjoyed working with her. “Kind, hilarious, and a true superstar with whom I was pretty much in love for the majority of my life,” he wrote, adding, “We’ve lost a great legend.”

She is survived by her son Damon Welch and her daughter Latanne “Tahnee” Welch, who is also an actor.