The Mexican movie star Isela Vega was born in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico on November 5, 1939. When she was 18 years, the young beauty was named Princess of the 1957 Carnaval in Hermosillo, and parlayed that into work as a model. Vega 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).
Isela made her film debut in the Pedro Armendariz movie "Verano violento" (1960). From her beginning in small roles in Mexican films in the early 1960s, her career grew and Vega became very popular as a sex symbol in the late 1960s. (Isela 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, Vega 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" in 1972). Vega had made her American film debut the year previously in "The Deadly Trackers" (1973) (the U.S.-Mexico horror cheapie "The 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, actress produced, wrote and directed "Lovers of the Lord of the Night" (1986), and has written and produced other films. Isela has a son whose father is Alberto Vazquez, and a daughter (Shaula, an actress) whose father is Jorge Luke, her co-star in "Sabor de la venganza", El (1971).
