José De Vega Jr. (January 4, 1934 – April 8, 1990) was an American actor, choreographer, and advocate for eliminating ethnic stereotypes in the entertainment industry.

He was known for his role as Chino in both the Broadway and 1961 film versions of West Side Story and for his work with Great Leap, a Los Angeles-based group of Asian-American artists.

[7] De Vega's next film role was in 1961 in Blue Hawaii as Ernie Gordon,[8] a friend of Elvis Presley's character Chad Gates.

He then began to play a significant role in productions by Great Leap[12] in Santa Monica, with whom he had been associated since its founding in 1978[13] a collective of Asian-American artists working to eliminate ethnic stereotypes in entertainment.

[10] De Vega died on April 8, 1990, at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Westwood, Los Angeles, at the age of 56, due to complications from AIDS.