Accompanied by entertainment writer Rex Reed, Welch visits backstage to congratulate Cliff Gorman, star of Lenny, at the Brooks Atkinson Theater on July 16, 1971. Born Jo Raquel Tejada in Chicago in 1940, the actress has always reigned as a world class beauty. In 1980, at age 40, she was fired in the middle of shooting Cannery Row, based on the John Steinbeck novel. Sensing age discrimination — when MGM replaced her with a 25-year-old Debra Winger — “all hell broke loose,” reported The Hollywood Reporter. She filed a breach of contract suit, and walked away with $10 million. It was a Pyrrhic victory: as a result she never starred in a major motion picture in Hollywood again. No matter. According to the trade paper, “Welch ended up making more money from Cannery Row than MGM did: The $11 million production earned $5 million domestically.”