Jester Hairston
Encyclopedia
Jester Joseph Hairston 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
".
, 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
.
" 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.
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.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, arranger
Arranger
In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...
, choral conductor, and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. His notable compositions include "Amen
Amen (The Impressions song)
"Amen" was a song popularized by The Impressions. The song was written by Jester Hairston, for the Sidney Poitier film Lilies of the Field . Curtis Mayfield said "I'd gone to see 'Lilies of The Field,' and the song in it, 'Amen,' was very inspiring for me as was the movie . . . Of course, I'd...
," 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
Mary's Boy Child
"Mary's Boy Child" is a 1956 Christmas song, written by Jester Hairston. With its religious content, it is also widely performed as a Christmas carol....
".
Early life
Hairston was born in Belews Creek, a rural community on the border of StokesStokes County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 44,711 people, 17,579 households, and 13,043 families residing in the county. The population density was 99 people per square mile . There were 19,262 housing units at an average density of 43 per square mile...
, Forsyth
Forsyth County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 306,067 people, 123,851 households, and 81,741 families residing in the county. The population density was 747 people per square mile . There were 133,093 housing units at an average density of 325 per square mile...
, Rockingham
Rockingham County, North Carolina
Rockingham County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2010, the population was 93,643. Its county seat is Wentworth.- History :The county was formed in 1785 from Guilford County...
and Guilford
Guilford County, North Carolina
Guilford County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. In 2010, the Census Bureau estimated the county's population to be 491,230. Its seat is Greensboro. Since 1938, an additional county court has been located in High Point, North Carolina, making Guilford one of only a handful...
counties in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. His grandparents had been slaves. At an early age he and his family moved to Homestead, Pennsylvania
Homestead, Pennsylvania
Homestead is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, in the "Mon Valley," southeast of downtown Pittsburgh and directly across the river from the city limit line. The borough is known for the Homestead Strike of 1892, an important event in the history of labor relations in the United...
, 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
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
in 1928 and studied music at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
. Hairston pledged Kappa Alpha Psi
Kappa Alpha Psi
Kappa Alpha Psi is a collegiate Greek-letter fraternity with a predominantly African American membership. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never limited membership based on color, creed or national origin...
(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
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
.
Career
Hairston wrote the song "Mary's Boy ChildMary's Boy Child
"Mary's Boy Child" is a 1956 Christmas song, written by Jester Hairston. With its religious content, it is also widely performed as a Christmas carol....
" in 1956, possibly the only popular Christmas song written by an African-American. He also wrote the song "Amen
Amen (The Impressions song)
"Amen" was a song popularized by The Impressions. The song was written by Jester Hairston, for the Sidney Poitier film Lilies of the Field . Curtis Mayfield said "I'd gone to see 'Lilies of The Field,' and the song in it, 'Amen,' was very inspiring for me as was the movie . . . Of course, I'd...
", which he dubbed for the Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier
Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian American actor, film director, author, and diplomat.In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field...
film Lilies of the Field (1963). He arranged traditional "Negro spirituals
Spiritual (music)
Spirituals are religious songs which were created by enslaved African people in America.-Terminology and origin:...
". 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
St. Louis Blues (1958 film)
St. Louis Blues is a 1958 film broadly based on the life of W. C. Handy. It starred jazz and blues greats Nat "King" Cole, Pearl Bailey, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt, and Barney Bigard, as well as gospel singer Mahalia Jackson and actress Ruby Dee...
(1958), The Alamo
The Alamo (1960 film)
The Alamo is a 1960 American historical epic released by United Artists. The film was directed by John Wayne, who also starred as Davy Crockett. The cast also includes Richard Widmark as Jim Bowie and Laurence Harvey as William B...
(1960), To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird (film)
To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1962 American drama film adaptation of Harper Lee's novel of the same name directed by Robert Mulligan. It stars Mary Badham in the role of Scout and Gregory Peck in the role of Atticus Finch....
(1962), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Lady Sings the Blues (1972), I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka is a 1988 blaxploitation parody film written by, directed by and starring Keenen Ivory Wayans. Featured in the film are several black actors who were part of the blaxploitation phenomenon; including Jim Brown, Bernie Casey, Antonio Fargas and Isaac Hayes...
(1988) and Being John Malkovich
Being John Malkovich
Being John Malkovich is a 1999 American black comedy-fantasy film written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze. It stars John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, and John Malkovich, who plays a fictional version of himself...
(1999).
Hairston appeared on The Amos 'n' Andy Show
Amos 'n' Andy
Amos 'n' Andy is a situation comedy set in the African-American community. It was very popular in the United States from the 1920s through the 1950s on both radio and television....
. 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
That's My Mama
That's My Mama is an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on the ABC network from September 1974 until December 1975. There are 39 episodes of this series.-Synopsis:...
. In his senior years he appeared in the show Amen
Amen (TV series)
Amen is an American television sitcom produced by Carson Productions that ran from September 27, 1986 to May 11, 1991 on NBC. Set in Sherman Hemsley's real-life hometown of Philadelphia, Amen starred Hemsley as the deacon of a church and was part of a wave of successful sitcoms on NBC in the 1980s...
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
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
and Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
show "Bold Venture
Bold Venture
Bold Venture is a 1951-1952 syndicated radio series starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Morton Fine and David Friedkin scripted the taped series for Bogart's Santana Productions....
."
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
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, at a time when foreign visitors were still quite rare in that country.
Death
Hairston died in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
from natural causes in 2000. For his contribution to the television industry, Hairston has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
located at 6201 Hollywood Blvd. He is interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery
Inglewood Park Cemetery
Inglewood Park Cemetery was founded in 1905 in Inglewood, California. A number of notable people, including entertainment and sports personalities, have been interred or entombed here.-List of notable and celebrity interments at Inglewood Park:...
, Inglewood, California.
Selected filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1936 | The Green Pastures The Green Pastures (film) The Green Pastures is a 1936 film depicting stories from the Bible as visualized by African American characters. It starred Rex Ingram , Oscar Polk, and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson... |
Member of Hall Johnson Choir | Uncredited |
| 1941 | Sullivan's Travels Sullivan's Travels Sullivan's Travels is a 1941 American comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges. It is a satire about a movie director, played by Joel McCrea, who longs to make a socially relevant drama, but eventually learns that comedies are his more valuable contribution to society. The film features... |
Church Projectionist | Uncredited |
| 1952 | We're Not Married! We're Not Married! We're Not Married! is a romantic comedy film released by 20th Century Fox. The featured was directed by Edmund Goulding, and released on July 11, 1952.... |
Leader of Christmas Carolers | Uncredited |
| 1954 | Gypsy Colt | Carl | |
| 1955 | Tarzan's Hidden Jungle Tarzan's Hidden Jungle Tarzan's Hidden Jungle is a 1955 RKO B&W movie starring Gordon Scott in his first film as Tarzan, taking over the role from Lex Barker, who had in turn followed Johnny Weismuller in the series. This film about Edgar Rice Burroughs' ape-man also features Vera Miles and Jack Elam, and was directed... |
Witch Doctor | Uncredited |
| 1960 | Raymie Raymie Raymie is a 1960 film starring David Ladd.It is most known for comedian Jerry Lewis being the singer of the title song.... |
Ransom | |
| 1960 | The Alamo | Jethro | |
| 1962 | To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird (film) To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1962 American drama film adaptation of Harper Lee's novel of the same name directed by Robert Mulligan. It stars Mary Badham in the role of Scout and Gregory Peck in the role of Atticus Finch.... |
Spence Robinson, Tom's father | Uncredited |
| 1968 | Finian's Rainbow Finian's Rainbow (film) Finian's Rainbow is a 1968 American musical film directed by Francis Ford Coppola that stars Fred Astaire and Petula Clark. The screenplay by E. Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy is based on their 1947 stage musical of the same name.-Plot:... |
Passion Pilgrim Gospeleer | Uncredited |
| 1976 | The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings is a comedic sports film about a team of enterprising ex-Negro League baseball players in the era of racial segregation. Loosely based upon William Brashler's novel of the same name, it starred Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones and Richard Pryor... |
Furry Taylor, Has-been player selling souvenirs | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1951 | The Rare Coin Amos 'n' Andy Amos 'n' Andy is a situation comedy set in the African-American community. It was very popular in the United States from the 1920s through the 1950s on both radio and television.... |
Henry | 1 episode |
| 1955 | You Are There | Thornton | 1 episode |
| 1956 | Gunsmoke Gunsmoke Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West.... |
Wellington | 1 episode |
| The 20th Century Fox Hour The 20th Century Fox Hour The 20th Century Fox Hour is an American drama anthology series televised in the United States on CBS from 1955 to 1957. Some of the shows in this series were restored, remastered and shown on the Fox Movie Channel in 2002 under the title Hour of Stars... |
Jacob | 1 episode | |
| 1959 | Rawhide Rawhide (TV series) Rawhide is an American Western series that aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights, from January 9, 1959 to September 3, 1965, before moving to Tuesday nights from September 14, 1965 until January 4, 1966, with a total of 217 black-and-white episodes... |
Zachariah | 1 episode |
| 1961 | Thriller | Papa Benjamin | 1 episode |
| 1962 | Have Gun--Will Travel | Old Man | 1 episode |
| 1969 | The Outcasts The Outcasts (TV series) The Outcasts is a short-lived Western genre television series, appearing on ABC in the 1968-69 season. The series co-starred Don Murray and Otis Young, and is probably most notable for being the first television Western with a Black co-star and the first bi-racial Western action... |
Daniel | 1 episode |
| The Virginian The Virginian (TV series) The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series... |
John Douglas | 1 episode | |
| 1974–1975 | That's My Mama That's My Mama That's My Mama is an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on the ABC network from September 1974 until December 1975. There are 39 episodes of this series.-Synopsis:... |
Wildcat | 22 episodes |
| 1975 | Harry O | Jefferson Johnson | 1 episode |
| 1986–1991 | Amen Amen (TV series) Amen is an American television sitcom produced by Carson Productions that ran from September 27, 1986 to May 11, 1991 on NBC. Set in Sherman Hemsley's real-life hometown of Philadelphia, Amen starred Hemsley as the deacon of a church and was part of a wave of successful sitcoms on NBC in the 1980s... |
Rolly Forbes | 110 episodes |
| 1993 | Family Matters | William | 1 episode |
External links
- African American Registry biography
- Interview with Jester Hairston, 1980
- Biography of Jester Hairston at Choralnet.org