Former Vicar of Brighton and Canon Residentiary at the Cathedral, Canon John Hester, has died aged 80, after a long, varied, and colourful ministry.

His ministry was devoted predominantly to members of the theatrical and other entertainment professions, particularly between 1963 and 1975, when he was Rector of Soho and senior chaplain of the Actors' Church Union.

John Fraser Hester was born at West Hartlepool on January 21 1927. He was educated at the local grammar school and was attracted to the theatre at an early age. He went to St Edmund’s Hall, Oxford, on a scholarship, became a captain in the Royal Education Corps during his National Service, then trained at Cuddesdon Theological College after which he became a curate at St George’s church, Southall, in west London, from 1952 to 1955.

He then spent three years as a curate at the church of the Holy Redeemer in Clerkenwell, where the possibility of a special ministry in the entertainment world was first recognised. He edited a magazine called Christian Drama, which led to his appointment in 1958 as full-time secretary and organiser of the Actors’ Church Union, which was founded in 1899 to meet the spiritual needs of the profession in theatres throughout the country. He combined this work with the chaplaincy of a community of nuns, the Society of the Sisters of Bethany.

The parish included film studios as well as theatres and (in the days before Westminster City Council tightened its control of the area) 50 strip clubs, a large number of pornography outlets, homosexual bars and clubs, and a large company of prostitutes.

He chaired the Soho Project, which brought together doctors, police, social workers and others concerned with the many human demands and problems within the parish, and also the Theatre Girls’ Club - a hostel for 35 young women working in or studying for various branches of the entertainment profession.

In 1969 St Paul’s church, Covent Garden, was added to his responsibilities, and he found time to be chairman of the Covent Garden Conservation Area Advisory Council and to serve as chaplain to the Lord Mayor of Westminster. He was a Deputy Minor Canon of St Paul’s Cathedral from 1962-75. In the 70s he published a book entitled Soho Is My Parish.

After this, in 1975, John moved to Brighton where he was Vicar of Brighton, though continued his work among the seaside entertainers and also took on the chaplaincy of Brighton and Hove Football Club, which he held until his retirement in 1997.

He was appointed rural dean not only of Brighton but also of Kemp Town and Preston. He played a full part in the civic life of the town. He was appointed a canon of Chichester Cathedral soon after his arrival in Brighton and a Chaplain to the Queen shortly before his departure in 1985 - but life membership of Equity was the honour that pleased him most.

He moved to Chichester to become Canon Residentiary and Precentor in 1985, became a trustee of the Festival Theatre, and during the next 12 years became chairman of the Chichester Centre of Arts, vice-president of the Guild of Sussex Craftsmen, a trustee of the Royal Theatrical Fund and southern area chaplain of the Actors’ Church Union. He was given the Chichester Civic Award in 1996.

His interest in travel started when, between National Service and Cuddesdon, he spent a year as personal assistant to the Bishop of Gibraltar, accompanying him to many places in his far-flung diocese. Later he led pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to various other parts of the world.

John Hester and his wife, Elizabeth, had three sons . His funeral will take place on Tuesday 26 February at 3pm in Chichester Cathedral.

The Dean, the Very Revd Nicholas Frayling, said: “John Hester had a long and varied ministry and is remembered with gratitude and affection by very many people in London, Brighton, Chichester and indeed all over the world. He will be greatly missed.”

Canon John Hester, priest; born, January 21, 1927, died, February 10, 2008.