Mantan Moreland
Known For: Acting
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: September 3, 1902
Day of Death: September 28, 1973 (71 years old)
Place of Birth: Monroe, Louisiana, USA
Although his brand of humor has been reviled for decades, Negro character actor Mantan Moreland parlayed his cocky but jittery character into a recognizable presence in the late 1930s and early 1940s, appearing in a long string of comedy thrillers . . . and was considered quite funny at the time! Born just after the turn of the century in Louisiana, Mantan began running away from home at age 12 to join circuses and medicine shows, only to be brought back time and again. During these times he sharpened his comic skills and developed routines and acts that eventually became popular on the vaudeville stage, or what was then called the "chitlin' circuit." A solo performer by nature, he often teamed up with other famous comics (such as Ben Carter) to keep working, and became a deft performer of "indefinite talk" routines, where two quicksilver comics continually topped each other in mid-sentence, as if reading each other's mind (i.e., "Say, did you see...?" "Saw him just yesterday...didn't look so good"). Mantan's focus gradually shifted his trade toward film, where he initially appeared in servile bits (shoeshine men, porters, waiters). However, his talent for making people laugh couldn't be overlooked and he soon earned featured status in Harlem-styled western parodies and grade "A" comedy films playing the superstitious, ever-terrified manservant running from any kind of impending doom. Moreland's peak in movies came with his recurring role as Birmingham, the skittish chauffeur, in the "Charlie Chan" series, where he was forever forewarning his boss to stay away from an obviously dangerous case or situation. Though haunted mansions were an ideal place for setting off his stereotyped character, Mantan would be haunted in a different way by this Hollywood success in years to follow. By the 1950s, racial attitudes began to change and, with the rise of the civil rights movement, what was once considered hilarious was now interpreted as demeaning and offensive to both blacks and whites. Mantan and others, such as Stepin Fetchit, were ostracized and ridiculed by Hollywood for their past negative portrayals. It took decades for audiences to forgive and newer generations to forget the Depression-era comedy of Mantan Moreland in order for the actor to come back. In the late 1960s he managed a modest resurgence on TV and in commercials and occasional films, allowing him to work again with such comic heavyweights as Bill Cosby, Godfrey Cambridge and director Carl Reiner. It was all too brief, however, for Mantan, long suffering from ill health, died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1973, just as he was settling in to his renewed popularity. Today, audiences tend to be kinder and more understanding of Moreland, remembering him as a highly talented comic who, in the only way he knew, broke major barriers and opened the doors for others black actors to follow.
1986
1973
1970
1969
1967
1964
1956
1949
1948
1947
1946
1945
1944
Actor Birmingham Brown
Charlie Chan in the Secret Service
Actor Birmingham Brown, Taxi Driver
Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
Actor Birmingham Brown
Black Magic
Actor Train Station Porter (uncredited)
Pin Up Girl
Actor Porter
Chip Off the Old Block
Actor Porter
Moon Over Las Vegas
Actor Alabam
Bowery to Broadway
Actor The Porter
South of Dixie
Actor Train Porter (uncredited)
See Here, Private Hargrove
1943
Actor First Idea Man
Cabin in the Sky
Actor Eustace Smith
Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher
Actor Skidmore
Melody Parade
Actor Woody
Swing Fever
Actor Jefferson 'Jeff' Johnson
Revenge of the Zombies
Actor Maxwell
Sarong Girl
Actor Bootblack
He Hired the Boss
Actor Waiter at Swade's (uncredited)
Slightly Dangerous
Actor Porter
You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith
Actor Willie
We've Never Been Licked
Actor Porter with Snowshoes (uncredited)
Hit the Ice
Actor Woody, Nick's Valet (uncredited)
Swing Fever
1942
Actor Amos
Footlight Serenade
Actor Alistair
Eyes in the Night
Actor Horatio B.Fitz Washington
The Strange Case of Doctor Rx
Actor Washington
Lucky Ghost
Actor Sam, the Nightclub Janitor (uncredited)
Tarzan's New York Adventure
Actor Nicodemus
Phantom Killer
Actor Jeff the porter
Freckles Comes Home
Actor Cicero - Wash Room Attendant (uncredited)
Four Jacks and a Jill
Actor Schenectady Jones
Mr. Washington Goes to Town
Actor Prentiss - The Benedict Butler (uncredited)
Andy Hardy's Double Life
Actor Washington
Professor Creeps
Actor Flint's Chauffeur
Girl Trouble
Actor Jefferson "Jeff" Jones
Law of the Jungle
Actor 'Snake-Eyes'
Treat 'Em Rough
Actor Porter (uncredited)
A-Haunting We Will Go
Actor Lightnin'
Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost
1941
Actor Jefferson 'Jeff' Jackson
King of the Zombies
Actor Railway Porter (uncredited)
It Started with Eve
Actor Porter (uncredited)
Sleepers West
Actor Black Trumpet Player (uncredited)
Birth of the Blues
Actor Ben
Sign of the Wolf
Actor Jefferson 'Jeff' Smith
The Gang's All Here
Actor Jeff Jefferson
You're Out of Luck
Actor Jeff
Let's Go Collegiate
Actor Rusty
Dressed to Kill
Actor Roy
Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery
Actor Washington
Up Jumped the Devil
Actor Burgess
Cracked Nuts
Actor Diner Cook
Marry the Boss's Daughter
1940
Actor Jeff Jefferson
Up in the Air
Actor Jefferson White
On the Spot
Actor Thomas H. Jefferson
Chasing Trouble
Actor Bellhop
Millionaire Playboy
Actor Robbins
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
Actor Memphis - The Cook
Viva Cisco Kid
Actor Waiter on Train
Star Dust
Actor Jefferson
Laughing at Danger
Actor Sergeant 'Blue' Williams
Drums of the Desert
Actor Beefus - Touissant's Chauffeur
Four Shall Die
Actor Porter
Girl in 313
Actor
Maryland
Actor Anxious Man
City of Chance
Actor Nash
While Thousands Cheer
