- Born
- Died
- Birth nameJester Joseph Hairston
- Nickname
- Rolly
- Composer, songwriter, conductor, singer, and actor Jester Hairston was educated at Tufts University, Juilliard, and the University of the Pacific (hon. Mus.D.). He acted on radio and television besides on film, and played Leroy on the "Amos 'n Andy" radio series for 15 years. He directed the Federal Theatre Project and was assistant- conductor of the 'Hall Johnson Choir' in New York for 15 years and trained choirs for radio and Broadway musicals. He went to Hollywood in 1936, he sang and appeared with the Hall Johnson Choir in the film The Green Pastures (1936). Organizing his own choir in 1943, he arranged and conducted film background music and conducted choral groups in colleges and high schools, touring Europe for the State Department in 1961. He joined ASCAP in 1956 and wrote such popular-song compositions as "Mary's Boy Child," "Poor Man Lazarus," and many Gospel songs including "In Dat Great Gittin'-Up Mornin'," "Amen," and "Gossip, Gossip."- IMDb Mini Biography By: Hup234!
- SpouseIsabel Margaret Swannigan(1939 - August 16, 1986) (her death, 1 child)
- He wrote the popular Christmas song "Mary's Boy Child", a top-ten hit in 1956 for Harry Belafonte and a standard today.
- Spent his formative years in Homestead, Massachusetts, where he graduated from high school (1921).
- Received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts University in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts (1929). Was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
- He wrote the song "Amen" used if the film Lilies of the Field (1963) and dubbed the singing voice for Sidney Poitier. "Amen" was a Top 10 hit in 1964 for The Impressions.
- He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6161 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 12, 1992.
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