- Born
- Died
- Birth nameIsela Vega Durazo
- Height5′ 6½″ (1.69 m)
- Isela Vega was born in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico on November 5, 1939. The young beauty was named Princess of the 1957 Carnaval in Hermosillo, and parlayed that into work as a model. She also had some success as a singer before turning to acting. (Her composition "Bennie's Song" was used in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974), which features her singing.)
She made her film debut in the Pedro Armendáriz movie Verano violento (1960). From her beginning in small roles in Mexican films in the early 1960s, her career grew and Isela became very popular as a sex symbol in the late 1960s. (She would appear nude in a multi-page feature in Playboy Magazine's July 1974 issue.) In addition to her Mexican films, TV shows, and stage appearances, she also worked in a number of foreign films, most famously in Sam Peckinpah's Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974), for which she received a Best Actress Ariel Award nomination in 1975. (Previously, Vega had been nominated for a Best Actress Ariel for her turn in Las reglas del juego (1971) in 1972.) She had made her United States film debut the year previously in The Deadly Trackers (1973) (the U.S.-Mexico horror cheapie Fear Chamber (1968) doesn't really count) and continued to appear occasionally in small parts in American films and TV until the late 1990s.
In addition to her work as an actress, Vega produced, wrote and directed Lovers of the Lord of the Night (1986), and has written and produced other films. She has a son whose father is Alberto Vázquez, and a daughter (Shaula, an actress) whose father is Jorge Luke.
- IMDb mini biography by: Jon C. Hopwood
- [on Warren Oates] I have beautiful memories of Warren Oates, I could describe him in a single word -- compassion. He was a person very committed with art and with his fellow man. Warren Oates loved it all, he petted everything that came across his path. He turned any situation into an ideal one, come on, he was perfect.
- [on handling success as a woman in Mexico] I'm a strong woman, so success hasn't ever gotten in my way. They really hate success in this country, there isn't anything that Mexicans love more than to pity you, and I do not like that. If you're not doing fine, then everyone cares about you, but if you're doing great they do not like it.
- [on Sam Peckinpah] Sam lived in an agony to better his art, which is why he had no patience for foolish people, he didn't like to have to repeat orders he gave. In order to approach his genius, what you needed was a certain sensitivity. Sam Peckinpah was an extraordinary director, he knew everything you need to know about making movies. He could laugh or cry if he needed to, a real man whose characters truly represent his spirit. I never felt so good for a director, not even Alejandro Jodorowsky.
- No one can regret what he's lived, it would be like regretting to live. I'd do everything again, I've been very happy and I'm in love with life, just like Warren Oates.
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