Jester Hairston
Hairston as Henry Van Porter onThe Amos 'n' Andy Show, 1951
Born	Jester Joseph Hairston (1901-07-09)July 9, 1901 Belews Creek, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	January 18, 2000(2000-01-18) (aged 98) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Inglewood Park Cemetery
Other names	Jasper J. Hairston Jester J. Hairston
Occupations	Composer songwriter arranger choral conductor actor
Years active	1936–1999
Spouse	Isabelle Margaret Swanigan ​ ​ (m. 1939; died 1986)​

Jester Joseph Hairston (July 9, 1901 – January 18, 2000) was an Americancomposer,songwriter,arranger, choral conductor andactor. He was regarded as a leading expert onblack spirituals and choral music.^[1][2] His notable compositions include "Amen", a gospel-tinged theme from the filmLilies of the Field and a 1964 hit forthe Impressions, and theChristmas song "Mary's Boy Child".

Hairston was born inBelews Creek, a rural community on the border ofStokes,Forsyth,Rockingham andGuilford counties inNorth Carolina. His grandparents had been slaves.^[1] At an early age, he and his family moved toHomestead, Pennsylvania, just outsidePittsburgh,^[1] where he graduated from high school in 1921.^[2] Hairston was very young when his father was killed in a job-related accident. Hairston was raised by his grandmother while his mother worked.^[3][4] Hairston heard his grandmother and her friends talking and singing about plantation life and became determined to preserve this history through music.^[4][5]

Hairston initially majored inlandscape architecture atMassachusetts Agricultural College in the 1920s.^[3][6] He became involved in various church choirs and choral groups, and accompanist Anna Laura Kidder saw his potential and became his benefactor. Kidder offered Hairston financial assistance to study music atTufts University,^[7][3] from which he graduated in 1929.^[1][6][8] He was one of the first black students admitted to Tufts.^[9][a] Later he studied music at theJuilliard School.^[7][12]

Hairston pledged the Chi chapter of theKappa Alpha Psi fraternity in 1925. He worked as a choir conductor in the early stages of his career. His work with choirs onBroadway eventually led to singing and acting parts in plays, films, radio programs and television shows.^[6][13]

Hairston sang with theHall Johnson Choir inHarlem for a time but was nearly fired from the all-black choir because he had difficulty with the rural dialects that were used in some of the songs. He had to shed his Boston accent and relearn the country speech of his parents and grandparents. Johnson had told him: "We're singing ain't and cain't and you're singing shahn't and cahn't and they don't mix in a spiritual."^[14][1] The choir performed in many Broadway shows, includingThe Green Pastures. In 1936, the choir was asked to visit Hollywood to sing for the filmThe Green Pastures. Russian composerDimitri Tiomkin heard Hairston and invited him to what would become a 30-year collaboration in which Hairston arranged and collected music for films. In 1939, Hairston married Margaret Swanigan.^[3][2][15] He wrote and arranged spirituals for Hollywood films as well as for high school and college choirs around the country.^[8][14]

Hairston wrote the song "Mary's Boy Child" in 1956. He also arranged the song "Amen", which he dubbed for theSidney Poitier filmLilies of the Field, and arranged traditionalNegro spirituals.^[16] Most of Hairston's film work was in the field of composing, arranging and choral conducting.^[8][14] He also acted in more than 20 films, mostly in small roles, some uncredited. The film roles included some of the early Tarzan films as well asSt. Louis Blues,To Kill a Mockingbird,In the Heat of the Night,Lady Sings the Blues,I'm Gonna Git You Sucka andBeing John Malkovich.^[16] Hairston starred inJohn Wayne'sThe Alamo (1960), in which he portrayed "Jethro", a slave owned byJim Bowie. In 1962’sTo Kill a Mockingbird Hairston portrayed the uncredited role of the father of accused rapist Tom Robinson. In 1967’sIn the Heat of the Night, Hairston portrayed the butler of a wealthy racist being investigated for murder. In both films, Hairston shot scenes alongside men who won anAcademy Award for Best Actor in those respective films for portraying white Southerners navigating their jobs through a racially divided culture.

In 1961, theU.S. State Department appointed Hairston asGoodwill Ambassador. He traveled all over the world teaching and performing the folk music of the slaves.^[1][17] In the 1960s, he held choral festivals with public high school choirs, introducing them to Negro spiritual music, and sometimes led several hundred students in community performances. His banter about the history of the songs along with his engaging personality and sense of humor endeared him to many students.^[8]

During his nationwide travels, Hairston checked local phone books for other Hairstons and reunited many people on his family tree, both black and white.^[2][6][18] He composed more than 300 spirituals. He was the recipient of many honorary doctorates, including a doctorate from theUniversity of Massachusetts in 1972 and a doctorate in music from Tufts in 1977.^[2][19][20]

Hairston appeared on the television situation comedyThe Amos 'n' Andy Show as society sophisticate Henry Van Porter and portrayed the character of Leroy on both the radio and televisionAmos 'n' Andy programs.^[16][6] He also played the role of Wildcat on the showThat's My Mama. In his senior years, he appeared on the showAmen as Rolly Forbes.^[6][21] His last television appearance was in 1993 on an episode ofFamily Matters. Hairston also played the role of "King Moses" on radio for theHumphrey Bogart andLauren Bacall showBold Venture.^[6][3]

In his later years, Hairston served as a cultural ambassador for American music, traveling to numerous countries with choral groups that he had assembled.^[8] In 1985, he took the Jester Hairston Chorale, a multiracial group, to sing inChina^[22] at a time when foreign visitors would rarely appear there.

Hairston died inLos Angeles of natural causes in 2000 at age 98.^[23] For his contribution to the television industry, Hairston has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame located at 6201Hollywood Boulevard.^[24] He is interred atInglewood Park Cemetery,Inglewood, California.

• Fearn-Burns, Kathleen, ed. (2005).Historical Dictionary of African-American Television (Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts). The Scarecrow Press.ISBN 0-8108-5335-3.
• Fullen, M. K. (1992).Pathblazers: Eight People who Made a Difference. Open Hand Publishing.ISBN 978-0-9408-8036-8.
• Wiencek, Henry (2000).The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White. Macmillan.ISBN 978-0-3122-5393-6.

• Jester Hairston atIMDb 
• Jester Hairston at theInternet Broadway Database
• African American Registry biography
• Sanborn, Pete."Jester Hairston". ChoralNet.org. Archived fromthe original on 2002-06-16. Retrieved2019-09-23.
• Jester Hairston atFind a Grave

• 1901 births
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