James Westley Welch Biography: Raquel Welch’s First Husband, High School Love, Children, Career and Private Life

James Westley Welch, also written as James Wesley Welch and commonly called Jim, was the high-school sweetheart and first husband of Hollywood icon Raquel Welch. Their story began when they were teenagers, years before Fantastic Voyage and One Million Years B.C. made Raquel internationally famous. They married in Las Vegas on May 8, 1959, had two children, Damon and Tahnee Welch, separated in the early 1960s and divorced in 1964. Raquel nevertheless kept the Welch surname throughout her career and later remembered Jim as her first great love.

Quick Bio of James Westley Welch

The basic marriage and family facts are well documented. Encyclopedia.com records the May 8, 1959 wedding, the 1964 divorce and their children Damon and Tahnee, while Raquel’s own memoir provides much richer detail about their teenage romance and James’ later life.

Who Was James Westley Welch?

James Westley Welch was the man Raquel Welch loved before anyone knew her as a movie star.

At the time, she was still Jo Raquel Tejada, a teenager growing up in Southern California.

There were no movie premieres.

No famous fur bikini.

No Golden Globe.

No Hollywood Walk of Fame star.

There was simply Jim and Raquel.

In her memoir Beyond the Cleavage, Raquel described meeting him when they were both about 15 and remembered being immediately attracted to him. ABC News published an excerpt from the memoir in which she described him as her first true love and someone against whom later relationships would be measured.

That makes James more important to Raquel’s story than the simple label “first husband” suggests.

Is His Name James Westley Welch or James Wesley Welch?

Both versions appear in reputable sources.

IMDb and Encyclopedia.com generally list him as James Westley Welch.

However, Raquel herself wrote James Wesley Welch in Beyond the Cleavage.

The New York Times obituary of Raquel also used James Wesley Welch.

That one-letter difference has created a surprising amount of confusion online, especially when writers try to connect James with birth records or obituaries belonging to people with similar names.

For an SEO article, James Westley Welch is the most commonly searched form.

But readers should know that James Wesley Welch also has strong support.

When Was James Westley Welch Born?

His exact birth date is not securely established.

Many recent biography websites claim James was born on January 29, 1937, often in Missouri.

That date has become widely repeated.

There is a problem.

In Raquel’s own memoir, she said that when she first met Jim, they were both 15. Raquel was born on September 5, 1940.

If her memory is approximately correct, a 1937 birth year would make James several years older than her rather than the same age.

That does not automatically prove the 1937 date is false—memories can simplify ages—but it does show why the precise date should not be presented casually as fact.

The best answer is:

James Westley Welch’s exact date of birth remains uncertain in reliable public records.

How Did James Welch Meet Raquel Welch?

Their romance began in school.

Raquel remembered seeing Jim near her American government class and immediately noticing him.

Soon he began giving her rides to school.

They went to dances together.

Raquel was a cheerleader.

Jim played football.

After games they would visit a drive-in, get burgers and shakes and spend time together listening to music.

It sounds almost like a classic 1950s teenage movie.

But their relationship was not perfectly smooth.

Raquel said they repeatedly broke up and reunited because they were very different people.

That tension would eventually follow them into marriage.

James Left School and Went to Peru

One of the most interesting parts of James’ early life came before the wedding.

Raquel wrote that Jim lost interest in school and eventually dropped out.

Then he did something dramatic.

He joined a tuna clipper traveling to Peru.

Raquel was heartbroken.

She stayed in school, earned honors and received a theater scholarship to San Diego State College.

Meanwhile, Jim was at sea.

His mother kept Raquel informed, and Jim sent letters from Peru.

Eventually his ship returned.

Raquel remembered waiting at the dock with his mother and sisters and seeing a much more rugged young man come home after working with heavy tuna nets.

Her feelings returned immediately.

Who Was James Welch’s Mother?

Raquel’s memoir identifies his mother as Tahnee Land.

She appears to have had a warm relationship with Raquel.

When Jim was away at sea, Tahnee kept Raquel updated.

She was also present when James and Raquel married in Las Vegas.

Years later, James and Raquel would give their daughter the name Latanne, with the nickname Tahnee.

That family connection helps explain their daughter’s unusual name.

James and Raquel Married in Las Vegas

The couple married on May 8, 1959.

The wedding took place in Las Vegas.

Raquel was only 18 at the time and would turn 19 that September.

She had been studying theater at San Diego State but dropped out as marriage and family became the center of her life.

Her parents were not equally happy about the decision.

Raquel wrote that James’ mother supported the marriage, while her own father strongly opposed it.

Looking back many years later, she understood that she had married very young.

But she never dismissed the relationship as meaningless.

What Was Their Early Married Life Like?

It was not glamorous.

James was looking for work.

Raquel was learning how to manage a home.

She joked in her memoir that she repeatedly called her mother for recipes and cleaning advice.

At the same time, Raquel’s beauty-pageant success had opened a small door into television.

She landed work as a weather presenter on KFMB in San Diego.

Then another major change arrived.

She became pregnant.

James and Raquel Welcomed Son Damon Welch

Their first child, Damon Welch, was born on November 6, 1959, in San Diego.

That was only about six months after the wedding.

IMDb identifies Damon as the son of Raquel Welch and James Westley Welch.

Raquel became a mother before turning 20.

Damon later stayed mostly outside celebrity culture, although he had some production work in entertainment and eventually became a computer consultant. Raquel herself wrote that he became a computer consultant engineer.

Their Daughter Tahnee Welch

Their second child, Latanne Rene “Tahnee” Welch, was born on December 26, 1961, in San Diego.

IMDb identifies James Welch as her father and Raquel as her mother.

Tahnee later became a model and actress.

Her best-known role came as Kitty in Ron Howard’s 1985 science-fiction movie Cocoon.

She also worked in European films and television.

Unlike Damon, Tahnee built a more visible entertainment career of her own.

Did James and Raquel Have Any Other Children Together?

No.

Damon and Tahnee were their only two children together.

They were also Raquel Welch’s only children.

CBS, the Los Angeles Times and other major profiles consistently identify Damon and Tahnee as the children from her marriage to James.

James later had another son, according to Raquel’s memoir, but that child was from his later marriage rather than his relationship with Raquel.

Why Did James Westley Welch and Raquel Welch Separate?

There was not one simple dramatic event.

Their personalities and ambitions increasingly moved in different directions.

Raquel wanted to pursue acting.

She wrote that opportunities were beginning to appear, but James had ideas about their future that did not include the career paths she wanted.

A gap developed between them.

Eventually, Raquel felt she had to leave.

The New York Times later described her departure from James as one of the most painful decisions of her life.

That wording is important.

She did not look back on him as a meaningless youthful mistake.

The breakup hurt.

When Did James and Raquel Separate?

Major biographies generally place their separation around 1962.

IMDb says Raquel left the marriage in 1962, although the formal divorce did not happen until 1964.

She eventually took Damon and Tahnee with her and pursued a different life.

The BFI obituary of Raquel summarizes the turning point clearly: after having two children with James, she left the marriage to pursue show business.

When Was Their Divorce Finalized?

James and Raquel officially divorced in 1964.

Their legal marriage therefore lasted about five years.

By then, Raquel’s entertainment career was beginning to move forward quickly.

Within only a few years, she would become one of the most photographed women in Hollywood.

James moved in a very different direction.

Why Did Raquel Keep the Welch Surname?

This is one of James’ biggest indirect contributions to Hollywood history.

Raquel was born Jo Raquel Tejada.

But after marrying James, she became Raquel Welch.

Even after the divorce, she kept Welch professionally. CBS notes that she continued using the surname long after their marriage ended.

So the name that eventually appeared on:

movie posters,

magazine covers,

television shows,

books,

and her Hollywood Walk of Fame star

came from her first husband.

She remarried three more times.

Yet the world always knew her as Raquel Welch.

What Happened to James After the Separation?

Raquel’s memoir provides unusually useful information here.

She wrote that after their marriage collapsed, James was drafted and joined the Green Berets.

The two then lived very different lives and spent long periods without direct communication.

Because of distance, work and hurt feelings, their children initially saw their father only intermittently.

Raquel later expressed regret about that part of the family history.

Eventually, however, the relationships improved.

Did James Westley Welch Become a Real-Estate Developer?

Yes, according to Raquel herself.

This is one career claim that has much stronger support than many modern biographies acknowledge.

In Beyond the Cleavage, Raquel wrote that Jim became a multimillionaire real-estate developer.

That does not tell us:

the names of his companies,

how many properties he developed,

where all his investments were,

or exactly how much he made.

But it does support the basic description of James as a successful real-estate developer later in life.

Was James Welch a Publicist or Talent Agent?

This is less certain.

Many modern biography websites describe him as:

a publicist,

talent agent,

businessman,

or entertainment executive.

Those claims are much less clearly supported than the real-estate statement in Raquel’s memoir.

The strongest documented career path is:

young tuna-boat worker → military service → later successful real-estate developer.

There may have been other jobs between those stages, but a careful biography should not fill in the missing years with unsupported titles.

Was James Westley Welch a Millionaire?

Raquel herself described him as a multimillionaire real-estate developer in her 2010 memoir.

That gives us good reason to believe he became financially successful.

However, some websites now claim an exact $40 million net worth.

There is no dependable financial record reviewed here supporting that precise number.

Net worth would require knowledge of:

property,

company ownership,

investments,

cash,

debts,

and other liabilities.

So it is reasonable to say James became wealthy.

It is not reasonable to state $40 million as proven fact.

Did James Westley Welch Remarry?

Yes, according to Raquel.

In her memoir, she wrote that James later married a woman named Jean.

That is much stronger evidence than simply finding the claim on a celebrity biography site.

Raquel also said James and Jean had a son together.

Who Is Jonas Welch?

Raquel identified Jonas as the son of James and his later wife Jean.

That means James had at least three children described in Raquel’s firsthand account:

Damon,

Tahnee,

and Jonas.

Damon and Tahnee were Raquel’s children.

Jonas came from James’ later marriage.

Because Jonas is a private person, there is little reason to turn his everyday life into a public biography.

Did Damon and Tahnee Reconnect With Their Father?

Yes.

Raquel wrote that Damon and Tahnee later developed a close relationship with James.

That is significant because the early years after the separation were difficult.

For a time, messages between James and Raquel went through family members.

The children did not see their father as often as they might have wanted.

But as the years passed, the situation improved.

The later family story was not simply one of permanent estrangement.

Did Raquel Welch Remain Friendly With James?

Yes.

By the time Raquel published her memoir in 2010, she said she and Jim had been on friendly terms for decades.

That is a remarkable ending to a relationship that began with intense teenage love and ended in a painful separation.

They did not remarry.

They did not become a couple again.

But the anger appears to have softened over time.

Was James Raquel Welch’s Greatest Love?

Only Raquel could answer that.

And her words certainly suggest that James occupied a unique place in her memory.

In her memoir, she described him as her first true love and explained that later relationships were unconsciously measured against that early experience.

IMDb also notes that Raquel later regarded her first marriage very highly compared with her other marriages.

That does not mean the marriage was easy.

If it had been, they probably would not have separated.

But first love can remain emotionally important even when a relationship does not last.

Who Were Raquel Welch’s Other Husbands?

After James, Raquel married three more times.

Her second husband was producer Patrick Curtis.

Her third was producer and director André Weinfeld.

Her fourth was restaurateur Richard Palmer.

All four marriages ultimately ended in divorce.

Yet she kept the Welch surname from marriage number one.

That is another reason James remains part of her public story.

Did James and Raquel Appear Together Again?

Yes.

Getty Images has a documented photograph from the December 1, 1983 Scarface New York premiere after-party identifying Raquel Welch, James Welch and Tahnee Welch together.

That is important because it confirms that James was not simply erased from the family after the divorce.

By the 1980s, the former couple could appear publicly together with their daughter.

It matches Raquel’s later statement that relations eventually became friendly.

When Did Raquel Welch Die?

Raquel Welch died on February 15, 2023, at age 82.

Her death was widely reported by major outlets, including the Guardian and Los Angeles Times.

She was survived by Damon and Tahnee.

Her career had lasted decades and included film, television, Broadway, fitness, beauty businesses and writing.

James remained one of the people connected to the very beginning of that story.

Did James Westley Welch Die in 2019?

This claim needs caution.

Many websites state that James died on November 23, 2019, at age 82.

The claim appears to be connected with an obituary for a James Wesley Welch in Bryan, Texas.

But researchers have pointed out a serious identification problem.

The obituary does not clearly identify the deceased as Raquel Welch’s former husband, and the spelling and biographical details may belong to another man with a similar name.

Therefore, the safest conclusion is:

The widely repeated 2019 death date for Raquel Welch’s first husband has not been securely verified.

Is James Westley Welch Still Alive in 2026?

His present status cannot be responsibly stated with certainty from the strongest public information available.

Raquel’s 2010 memoir clearly described him as living at that time.

The 2019 death claim remains questionable because of possible mistaken identity.

That leaves a gap in the verified public record.

For a private person, it is better to acknowledge that gap than attach the wrong obituary to him.

What Is James Westley Welch’s Net Worth?

No exact verified figure is available.

Raquel’s firsthand account supports the idea that he became a successful and wealthy real-estate developer.

But the often-repeated $40 million figure is not supported by an independently verified financial record.

So the best wording is:

James Westley Welch became a multimillionaire real-estate developer according to Raquel Welch, but his exact net worth is unknown.

Why Is James Westley Welch Still Famous?

The answer begins with a surname.

Without James, the world might have known Raquel by another professional name.

Instead, the surname Welch became one of the most recognizable names of 1960s cinema.

James was also:

her teenage sweetheart,

her first husband,

the father of her only children,

and the man she remembered as her first true love.

That makes him more than a footnote.

He was part of the life Raquel lived before Hollywood transformed everything.

What We Actually Know About James Westley Welch

The reliable story can be summarized clearly.

James met Raquel while they were teenagers.

She remembered them as both being around 15.

He left school and worked aboard a tuna clipper traveling to Peru.

They married in Las Vegas on May 8, 1959.

Their son Damon was born in November 1959.

Their daughter Tahnee arrived in December 1961.

They separated around 1962 and divorced in 1964.

Raquel continued using his surname.

After the marriage, she wrote that James was drafted, joined the Green Berets and later became a multimillionaire real-estate developer.

She also wrote that he remarried a woman named Jean and had a son named Jonas.

Damon and Tahnee later became close to their father, and James and Raquel eventually maintained friendly relations.

What remains uncertain includes:

his exact birth date,

precise birthplace,

complete work history,

exact fortune,

and current or final-life status.

Final Thoughts

James Westley Welch’s biography is really the story of a private man who happened to become part of one of Hollywood’s most famous names.

Before Raquel Welch was Raquel Welch, she was a teenage girl who saw Jim at school and immediately fell for him.

They danced after football games.

They drove around Southern California.

He went away on a tuna boat.

She waited for him.

He returned.

And they married.

Then real life arrived quickly.

Damon was born.

Tahnee followed.

Raquel wanted an acting career.

James wanted a different path.

The marriage could not hold both of those futures together.

Raquel left, something she later remembered as an extremely painful decision.

Within a few years she became an international star.

James went through military service and eventually became successful in real estate, according to her memoir.

They remarried other people.

Their children grew up.

And eventually the anger faded.

Perhaps the most revealing part of their story is what Raquel wrote decades later.

She did not pretend the marriage had been perfect.

But she also did not erase what it meant.

Jim had been her first great love.

For readers searching for James Westley Welch, the clearest answer is this: he was Raquel Welch’s teenage sweetheart, first husband and the father of Damon and Tahnee; a young man who went from tuna fishing and military service to successful real-estate development; and the man whose surname Raquel carried into Hollywood history.

Frequently Asked Questions About James Westley Welch

Who was James Westley Welch?

James Westley Welch was Raquel Welch’s high-school sweetheart, first husband and the father of her two children, Damon and Tahnee.

Is his middle name Westley or Wesley?

Both spellings appear. IMDb uses Westley, while Raquel’s memoir and the New York Times use Wesley.

How did James Welch meet Raquel Welch?

They met as teenagers in Southern California. Raquel recalled being instantly attracted to him when they were about 15.

Was James Welch in high school with Raquel?

Yes. He was her high-school sweetheart, although Raquel wrote that he eventually dropped out.

What did James do after leaving school?

Raquel said he joined a tuna clipper that traveled to Peru.

When did James Westley Welch marry Raquel?

They married on May 8, 1959, in Las Vegas.

How old was Raquel Welch when they married?

She was 18 and turned 19 later in 1959.

How many children did James and Raquel have?

They had two children, Damon Welch and Tahnee Welch.

Who is Damon Welch?

Damon is their son, born November 6, 1959. He later worked in production and as a computer consultant.

Who is Tahnee Welch?

Tahnee is their daughter, born December 26, 1961. She became a model and actress best known for Cocoon.

When did James and Raquel separate?

They separated around 1962.

When did they divorce?

Their divorce was finalized in 1964.

Why did Raquel Welch keep James’ last name?

She had already become known professionally as Raquel Welch and continued using the surname after their divorce.

What did James Westley Welch do for a living?

Raquel wrote that he later became a multimillionaire real-estate developer. When younger, he had worked aboard a tuna boat.

Was James Welch in the military?

Raquel wrote that he was drafted after their breakup and joined the Green Berets.

Did James Westley Welch remarry?

Yes, according to Raquel’s memoir. She identified his later wife as Jean.

Did James have another child?

Raquel wrote that James and Jean had a son named Jonas.

Did Damon and Tahnee stay close to James?

Raquel said they eventually developed a close relationship with their father.

Did Raquel and James remain friends?

By 2010, Raquel said they had been on friendly terms for decades.

What was James Westley Welch’s net worth?

No verified exact number exists. Raquel described him as a multimillionaire real-estate developer, but online figures such as $40 million remain unverified.

When was James Westley Welch born?

His exact birth date is uncertain. The widely repeated January 29, 1937 date is not sufficiently confirmed by strong sources.

Did James Westley Welch die in 2019?

A 2019 obituary for a similarly named James Wesley Welch is frequently connected with him online, but the identification is not securely established.

When did Raquel Welch die?

Raquel Welch died on February 15, 2023, at age 82.

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