- Jester Hairston
Jester Hairston (
July 9 ,1901 –January 18 ,2000 ) was an American composer, songwriter, arranger, choral conductor, and actor. He wrote the Christmas song "Mary's Boy Child ".Biography
Hairston was born in Belews Creek, a rural community on the border of Stokes and Forsyth counties in
North Carolina . At an early age he and his family moved to Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania . His grandparents had been slaves.He graduated "cum laude" from
Tufts University and studied music at theJuilliard School as well. 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 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 China, at a time when foreign visitors were still quite rare in that country.
Songs
Hairston wrote the song "
Mary's Boy Child " in 1956. He also wrote the song "Amen", which he dubbed for actorSidney Poitier in the film "Lilies of the Field " (1963). He was a noted arranger of traditional "Negro spirituals" and choral director.Films
Most of Hairston's film work was in the field of composing, arranging, and choral conducting. Hairston also acted in over twenty films, mostly in small parts, some of which were not credited to him. Among the films he appeared in were "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).Television appearances
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 in the program "Family Matters".Hairston died of natural causes in
Los Angeles, California in January 2000.External links
*imdb name|id=0354377
* [http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/1416/Jester_Hairston_more_than_an_actor African American Registry biography]
* [http://www.umich.edu/~afroammu/standifer/hairston.html Interview with Jester Hairston] , 1980
* [http://www.choralnet.org/resources/repertoire/composer/hairston.html Biography of Jester Hairston] at Choralnet.org
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