Who Is James Westley Welch? The Fascinating Life Story of Raquel Welch’s First Husband

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James Westley Welch is best known to the public as the first husband of Hollywood icon Raquel Welch, but his own story reaches far beyond that single connection. Born in 1937 in Pike County, Missouri, he grew up to become a tuna fisherman, a high school sweetheart, and later a businessman who built a life away from the spotlight. His marriage to Raquel began as a teenage romance and ended in divorce, yet she carried his last name for the rest of her life. This article looks at his early years, his marriage, his career, and the legacy he left behind.

Table of Contents

Bio Table

Detail	Information
Full Name	James Westley Welch
Nickname	Jim
Date of Birth	January 29, 1937
Place of Birth	Pike County, Missouri, USA
Father	Hiriam Joseph Welch
Mother	Doris Latanne Hilburn
High School	La Jolla High School, San Diego
First Wife	Raquel Welch (m. 1959, div. 1964)
Children	Damon Welch, Tahnee Welch
Second Marriage	Jean Welch
Occupation	Tuna fisherman, publicist, real estate developer
Known For	First husband of Raquel Welch

Early Life and Family Background

James Westley Welch was born on January 29, 1937, in Pike County, Missouri. His father, Hiriam Joseph Welch, and his mother, Doris Latanne Hilburn, raised him during the years following the Great Depression, a period that shaped many families across the country. Details about his childhood remain limited, since Welch avoided public attention throughout his life and never gave interviews about his upbringing.

His family eventually moved to San Diego, California, where he attended La Jolla High School. It was there that his path crossed with a young Jo Raquel Tejada, the girl who would later become world-famous as Raquel Welch. He played football for the school while she cheered from the sidelines, and their friendship soon grew into something more serious.

Meeting Raquel Welch

Raquel Welch described their first meeting in her 2010 memoir, Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage, recalling that she noticed James at the age of fifteen and felt an instant connection. She remembered him as calm, green-eyed, and unlike anyone else she had met. The two attended dances together, shared burgers after football games, and bonded over their favorite song, “You Send Me” by Sam Cooke.

Their romance was not constant during high school, drifting on and off as teenage relationships often do. James left school before graduating and joined a tuna fishing crew bound for Peru, a decision that separated the couple for a stretch of time. When he returned to San Diego, their connection picked up right where it had left off.

Marriage to Raquel Welch

James Westley Welch and Raquel married on May 8, 1959, in a modest ceremony in Las Vegas. Raquel was only nineteen at the time and had just started college, and she later admitted the marriage went against her father’s wishes. Both were young and inexperienced, and the pressures of adult life arrived quickly once they settled into married life in Pacific Beach.

The couple welcomed two children during their marriage. Their son, Damon Welch, was born on November 6, 1959, followed by their daughter, Latanne “Tahnee” Welch, on December 26, 1961. As Raquel’s modeling and television career began to take off, tension grew between her ambitions and James’s preference for a quieter, more traditional life. The couple separated in 1962 and finalized their divorce in 1964.

Life After the Divorce

Following the split, James Westley Welch stepped back from public life almost entirely. He moved away from fishing and worked for a time as a publicist and agent within the entertainment industry, using skills he had picked up through discipline and persistence. He later shifted his focus to real estate development during California’s growing property market of the 1970s and 1980s, where reports suggest he built substantial financial success.

He also remarried a woman named Jean, and the couple had a son together, though Welch kept nearly every detail of that chapter of his life private. In 1977, after fifteen years apart from Raquel, he reached out to reconnect, primarily to discuss their children’s futures. Their meeting was described as calm and respectful, centered on parenting rather than rekindling the past.

Why Raquel Welch Kept His Name

Despite marrying three more times after her divorce from James, Raquel Welch never changed her last name back to Tejada. She often referred to him as her first true love and the man against whom she measured every future partner. This detail, more than any headline, tells the story of how deeply their young romance shaped her life.

Their children, Damon and Tahnee, both went on to work in entertainment, following in their mother’s footsteps while maintaining relationships with their father. Damon became an actor and producer, while Tahnee built a career as a model and actress, appearing in films such as Cocoon.

Conclusion

James Westley Welch may be remembered publicly as Raquel Welch’s first husband, but his life told a story of its own, one built on quiet ambition, family, and a lasting first love that never fully faded.