Jester Hairston

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. Hairston heard his grandmother and her friends talking and singing about plantation life and became determined to preserve this history through music.

Hairston initially majored in landscape architecture at Massachusetts Agricultural College in the 1920s. 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 at Tufts University, He was one of the first black students admitted to Tufts. Later he studied music at the Juilliard School.

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

Career

Hairston 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: "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." He wrote and arranged spirituals for Hollywood films as well as for high school and college choirs around the country.

Hairston wrote the song "Mary's 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. Hairston starred in John Wayne's The Alamo (1960), in which he portrayed "Jethro", a slave owned by Jim Bowie. In 1962’s To Kill a Mockingbird Hairston portrayed the uncredited role of the father of accused rapist Tom Robinson. In 1967’s In 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 an Academy Award for Best Actor in those respective films for portraying white Southerners navigating their jobs through a racially divided culture.

In 1961, the U.S. State Department appointed 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 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.

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

Hairston appeared on the television situation comedy The Amos 'n' Andy Show as society sophisticate Henry Van Porter and portrayed the character of Leroy on both the radio and television Amos 'n' Andy programs. He also played the role of Wildcat on the show That's My Mama. In his senior years, he appeared on 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.

In his later years, Hairston served as a cultural ambassador for American music, traveling to numerous countries with choral groups that he had assembled. at a time when foreign visitors would rarely appear there.

Death

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

Filmography

Notes

References

Sources cited

References

1. Woo, Elaine. (January 21, 2000). "Actor Overcame Race Stereotypes". [[Los Angeles Times]].
2. Watkins, Mel. (January 30, 2000). "Jester Hairston, 98, Choral Expert and Actor". [[The New York Times]].
3. Bass Cope, Penelope. (February 27, 1984). "From shipboard waiter to Hollywood". Morning News.
4. (July 2, 1994). "Southern California File". Los Angeles Times.
5. Rense, Rip. (December 4, 1988). "Lord, What a Career". Chicago Tribune.
6. Williford, Stanley O.. (October 26, 1981). "Choir Director Jester Hairston "Spirituals Adviser to the World"". Los Angeles Times.
7. (2000). "Concise Encyclopedia of Tufts History".
8. Traylor, Susan. (March 20, 1977). "No Business Like Show Business for Hairston". Longview News-Journal.
9. McConahey, Meg. (March 20, 1987). "Sounds of slavery in Sonoma". Press Democrat.
10. (March 13, 1977). "Noted Musician to Visit Longview". Longview News-Journal.
11. (May 14, 1939). "Engaged Couple". Oakland Tribune.
12. Williford, Stanley O.. (October 26, 1981). "Hairston:A Spirituals Adviser". Los Angeles Times.
13. Deeb, Gary. (June 23, 1987). "Veteran black actor has seen changes on and off screen". Courier-Post.
14. Hairston, Will. (January 28, 2000). "He Had a Dream. Amen". Los Angeles Times.
15. (January 28, 2000). "Alumnus Jester Hairston Dies at 98: Actor-Composer Helped Preserve Negro Spirituals". University of Massachusetts Chronicle.
16. Michaels, Taylor. (April 16, 2000). "TV Mailbag". Palm Beach Post.
17. (February 20, 1992). "91-year-old Jester Hairston earns 'star'". The Daily Times.