Jester Hairston

Jester Hairston
Jester Hairston as Henry Van Porter on Amos 'n' Andy show, 1951.
Born	Jester Joseph Hairston July 9, 1901(1901-07-09) Belews Creek, North Carolina
Died	January 18, 2000(2000-01-18) (aged 98) Los Angeles, California
Other names	Jasper J. Hairston Jester J. Hairston
Occupation	Composer, songwriter, arranger, choral conductor, actor
Years active	1936–1999
Spouse	Isabelle Margaret Swanigan (1912-1986; her death)

Jester Joseph Hairston (July 9, 1901 – January 18, 2000) was an American composer, songwriter, arranger, choral conductor, and actor. His notable compositions include "Amen," a gospel-tinged theme from the film Lilies of the Field and a 1963 hit for The Impressions, and the Christmas song "Mary's Boy Child".

Early life

Hairston was born in Belews Creek, a rural community on the border of Stokes, Forsyth, Rockingham and Guilford counties in North Carolina. His grandparents had been slaves. At an early age he and his family moved to Homestead, Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh, where he graduated from high school in 1919. Hairston, who gave up studies at Massachusetts Agriculture College in the 1920s, went on to graduate from Tufts University in 1928 and studied music at the Juilliard School. Hairston pledged Kappa_Alpha_Psi (Chi Chapter) in 1950. He worked as a choir conductor in the early stages of his career. His work with choirs on Broadway eventually led to his singing and acting in plays, films, radio programs, and television shows. In 1937 was a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild.

Career

Hairston wrote the song "Mary's Boy Child" in 1956, possibly the only popular Christmas song written by an African-American. He also wrote the song "Amen", which he dubbed for the Sidney Poitier film Lilies of the Field (1963). He arranged traditional "Negro spirituals". Most of Hairston's film work was in the field of composing, arranging, and choral conducting. Hairston also acted in over 20 films, mostly in small roles, some of which were uncredited. Among the films he appeared in were bit parts in some of the early Tarzan movies, St. Louis Blues (1958), The Alamo (1960), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Lady Sings the Blues (1972), I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) and Being John Malkovich (1999).

Hairston appeared on The Amos 'n' Andy Show. He had been in the radio program that was the basis for the TV show. He also played the role of Wildcat (1974–1975) on the show That's My Mama. In his senior years he appeared in the show Amen as Rolly Forbes (1986–1991). His last television appearance was in 1993 on an episode of Family Matters, a sitcom. Hairston also played the role of "King Moses" on radio for the Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall show "Bold Venture."

In his later years, Hairston served as a cultural ambassador for American music, traveling to numerous countries with choral groups that he had assembled. In 1985 he took the Jester Hairston Chorale, a multi-racial group, to sing in the People's Republic of China, at a time when foreign visitors were still quite rare in that country.

Death

Hairston died in Los Angeles from natural causes in 2000. For his contribution to the television industry, Hairston has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6201 Hollywood Blvd. He is interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California.

Selected filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1936	The Green Pastures	Member of Hall Johnson Choir	Uncredited
1941	Sullivan's Travels	Church Projectionist	Uncredited
1952	We're Not Married!	Leader of Christmas Carolers	Uncredited
1954	Gypsy Colt	Carl
1955	Tarzan's Hidden Jungle	Witch Doctor	Uncredited
1960	Raymie	Ransom
1960	The Alamo	Jethro
1962	To Kill a Mockingbird	Spence Robinson, Tom's father	Uncredited
1968	Finian's Rainbow	Passion Pilgrim Gospeleer	Uncredited
1976	The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings	Furry Taylor, Has-been player selling souvenirs
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951	The Rare Coin	Henry	1 episode
1955	You Are There	Thornton	1 episode
1956	Gunsmoke	Wellington	1 episode
	The 20th Century Fox Hour	Jacob	1 episode
1959	Rawhide	Zachariah	1 episode
1961	Thriller	Papa Benjamin	1 episode
1962	Have Gun--Will Travel	Old Man	1 episode
1969	The Outcasts	Daniel	1 episode
	The Virginian	John Douglas	1 episode
1974–1975	That's My Mama	Wildcat	22 episodes
1975	Harry O	Jefferson Johnson	1 episode
1986–1991	Amen	Rolly Forbes	110 episodes
1993	Family Matters	William	1 episode

External links

• Jester Hairston at the Internet Movie Database
• African American Registry biography
• Interview with Jester Hairston, 1980
• Biography of Jester Hairston at Choralnet.org
• Jester Hairston at Find a Grave