Jester Hairston

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Jester Joseph Hairston July 9 1901 January 18 2000 was an American composer songwriter arranger choral conductor and actor He was regarded as a leading expert on Negro spirituals and choral music His notable compositions include Amen a gospeltinged theme from the film Lilies of the Field and a 1963 hit for The Impressions and the Christmas song Marys Boy Child He sang with the Hall Johnson Choir in Harlem 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 Were singing aint and caint and youre singing shahnt and cahnt and they dont mix in a spiritual The Hall Johnson Choir performed in many Broadway shows including The Green Pastures In 1936 they were asked to go to Hollywood to sing for the film The Green Pastures At that time a Russian composer Dimitri Tiomkin heard Jester and invited him to collaborate with him This led to a thirtyyear collaboration during which time Jester arranged and collected music for the movies In 1939 Hairston married Margaret Swanigan He also wrote and arranged spirituals for Hollywood films as well as for high school and college choirs around the country Hairston wrote the song Marys Boy Child in 1956 He also arranged the song Amen which he dubbed for the Sidney Poitier film Lilies of the Field and arranged traditional Negro spirituals Most of Hairstons 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 The Alamo To Kill a Mockingbird In the Heat of the Night Lady Sings the Blues Im Gonna Git You Sucka and Being John Malkovich In 1961 the US State Department appointed Jester Hairston as Goodwill Ambassador He traveled all over the world teaching and performing the folk music of the slaves In the 1960s he held choral festivals with public high school choirs introducing them to Negro Spiritual music and sometimes leading 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 Hairston appeared on TVs The Amos n Andy Show He had the role of Leroy on the radio program and as Henry Van Porter on the television program He also played the role of Wildcat on the show Thats My Mama In his senior years he appeared in the show Amen as Rolly Forbes His last television appearance was in 1993 on an episode of Family Matters Hairston also played the role of King Moses on radio for the Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall show Bold Venture Hairston died in Los Angeles of natural causes in 2000 at age 98 Born in 1901 Hairstons life spanned each year of the 20th century 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