Completing High School
All throughout her time in La Jolla High School, boys were interested in her, but she wanted more than just a boyfriend. In 1958 she graduated high school with honors and went on to win a number of roles in her local acting theater.
Her First Marriage
High school was an important time for Welch as it was there that she met James Welch – the man whose name she would take and make into her own. She fell in love with her high school sweetheart and married him in 1959 after Welch fell pregnant. When 1961 came around the couple already had two kids, Damon and Latanne. At the same time they were going through a rough patch, and eventually the two got divorced.