Jester Joseph Hairston (July 9, 1901 – January 18, 2000) was an American composer, songwriter, arranger, choral conductor and actor.

[1][2] His notable compositions include "Amen", a gospel-tinged theme from the film Lilies of the Field and a 1964 hit for the Impressions, and the Christmas song "Mary's Boy Child".

Hairston was born in Belews Creek, a rural community on the border of Stokes, Forsyth, Rockingham and Guilford counties in North Carolina.

[3][4] Hairston heard his grandmother and her friends talking and singing about plantation life and became determined to preserve this history through music.

His work with choirs on Broadway eventually led to singing and acting parts in plays, films, radio programs and television shows.

[16] Hairston starred in John Wayne's The Alamo (1960), in which he portrayed "Jethro", a slave owned by Jim Bowie.

[1][17] 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.

Hairston also played the role of "King Moses" on radio for the Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall show Bold Venture.

[6][3] In his later years, Hairston served as a cultural ambassador for American music, traveling to numerous countries with choral groups that he had assembled.

[8] In 1985, he took the Jester Hairston Chorale, a multiracial group, to sing in China[22] at a time when foreign visitors would rarely appear there.