Early in his career, he was cast in the original 1957 Broadway production of
West Side Story as a replacement for the character Juano and also as an understudy and then replacement for the role of Chino, the best friend of the Sharks' leader, Bernardo. In 1958 he performed in Hawaii and was cast as a principal actor and featured dancer in the 1958 production of
The Music Man at Dillingham Hall He was asked to reprise the role of Chino for
the 1961 film adaptation of
West Side Story and also played the role on the London stage and in Japan. De Vega's next film role was in 1961 in
Blue Hawaii as Ernie Gordon, a friend of
Elvis Presley's character Chad Gates. The author Camilla Fojas noted that De Vega "adopted various cross-ethnic and racialized roles in Hollywood films and television" when examining and comparing his roles in
West Side Story and
Blue Hawaii. Other film credits included parts in
Island of the Lost (1967),
A Covenant with Death (1967), and
Ash Wednesday (1973). He also made appearances in various popular television series, such as "The High Chaparral",
Bonanza,
Wagon Train, Dynasty,
Mission Impossible and
Hart to Hart. In the late 1970s he spent four years with the Modern Dance Company of Rome (
Danza Contemporania Di Roma). returning to the US in 1981. He then began to play a significant role in productions by Great Leap in
Santa Monica, with whom he had been associated since its founding in 1978 a collective of Asian-American artists working to eliminate ethnic stereotypes in entertainment. He remained associated with the group until his death. which would prove to be his last film. He and
Nobuko Miyamoto conceived the performance
Talk Story following on from their musical and choreographic contributions to
Karate Kid II.
Talk Story was staged at the
Los Angeles Theatre Center in 1989. ==Death==