Mantan Moreland
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.
Known For
Credits
- 1986 · Horrible Horror as Jefferson Jackson in 'King of the Zombies'
- 1973 · The Young Nurses as Old Man
- 1970 · Watermelon Man as Joe the Counterman
- 1969 · The Comic as Passerby at Billy's Funeral (unbilled)
- 1969 · The Bill Cosby Show as Uncle Dewey
- 1968 · Adam-12 as Philip Richards
- 1968 · Julia as Harry James
- 1967 · Spider Baby as Messenger
- 1967 · Enter Laughing as Subway Rider
- 1964 · The Patsy as Barber Shop Porter
- 1956 · Rockin' the Blues as Self
- 1949 · Sky Dragon as Birmingham Brown
- 1949 · Come On, Cowboy! as Mantan
- 1948 · The Feathered Serpent as Birmingham Brown
- 1948 · The Golden Eye as Birmingham Brown
- 1948 · She's Too Mean for Me as
- 1948 · Shanghai Chest as Birmingham Brown
- 1948 · The Dreamer as
- 1948 · Docks of New Orleans as Birmingham Brown
- 1948 · What a Guy as
- 1947 · The Chinese Ring as Birmingham Brown
- 1947 · Return of Mandy's Husband as Mantan
- 1946 · The Trap as Birmingham Brown
- 1946 · Mantan Runs for Mayor as
- 1946 · Shadows Over Chinatown as Birmingham Brown
- 1946 · Tall, Tan and Terrific as Mantan Moreland
- 1946 · Dark Alibi as Birmingham Brown
- 1946 · Riverboat Rhythm as Mantan
- 1946 · Mantan Messes Up as
- 1945 · The Spider as Harry
- 1945 · She Wouldn't Say Yes as Porter (uncredited)
- 1945 · Captain Tugboat Annie as Pinto
- 1945 · The Shanghai Cobra as Birmingham Brown
- 1945 · The Scarlet Clue as Birmingham Brown, Chauffeur
- 1945 · Charlie Chan in The Jade Mask as Birmingham Brown
- 1944 · Bowery to Broadway as Alabam
- 1944 · Black Magic as Birmingham Brown
- 1944 · South of Dixie as The Porter
- 1944 · Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat as Birmingham Brown, Taxi Driver
- 1944 · Pin Up Girl as Train Station Porter (uncredited)
- 1944 · Moon Over Las Vegas as Porter
- 1944 · See Here, Private Hargrove as Train Porter (uncredited)
- 1944 · Charlie Chan in the Secret Service as Birmingham Brown
- 1944 · Chip Off the Old Block as Porter
- 1943 · Swing Fever as Woody
- 1943 · Swing Fever as Woody, Nick's Valet (uncredited)
- 1943 · You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith as Porter
- 1943 · Revenge of the Zombies as Jefferson 'Jeff' Johnson
- 1943 · Melody Parade as Skidmore
- 1943 · We've Never Been Licked as Willie
- 1943 · Sarong Girl as Maxwell
- 1943 · Hit the Ice as Porter with Snowshoes (uncredited)
- 1943 · He Hired the Boss as Bootblack
- 1943 · Slightly Dangerous as Waiter at Swade's (uncredited)
- 1943 · Cabin in the Sky as First Idea Man
- 1943 · Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher as Eustace Smith
- 1942 · Andy Hardy's Double Life as Prentiss - The Benedict Butler (uncredited)
- 1942 · Eyes in the Night as Alistair
- 1942 · Girl Trouble as Flint's Chauffeur
- 1942 · Phantom Killer as Nicodemus
- 1942 · A-Haunting We Will Go as Porter (uncredited)
- 1942 · Footlight Serenade as Amos
- 1942 · Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost as Lightnin'
- 1942 · Mr. Washington Goes to Town as Schenectady Jones
- 1942 · Tarzan's New York Adventure as Sam, the Nightclub Janitor (uncredited)
- 1942 · The Strange Case of Doctor Rx as Horatio B.Fitz Washington
- 1942 · Professor Creeps as Washington
- 1942 · Lucky Ghost as Washington
- 1942 · Law of the Jungle as Jefferson "Jeff" Jones
- 1942 · Treat 'Em Rough as 'Snake-Eyes'
- 1942 · Four Jacks and a Jill as Cicero - Wash Room Attendant (uncredited)
- 1942 · Freckles Comes Home as Jeff the porter
- 1941 · Marry the Boss's Daughter as Diner Cook
- 1941 · Birth of the Blues as Black Trumpet Player (uncredited)
- 1941 · It Started with Eve as Railway Porter (uncredited)
- 1941 · Let's Go Collegiate as Jeff
- 1941 · Dressed to Kill as Rusty
- 1941 · Cracked Nuts as Burgess
- 1941 · The Gang's All Here as Jefferson 'Jeff' Smith
- 1941 · King of the Zombies as Jefferson 'Jeff' Jackson
- 1941 · Sign of the Wolf as Ben
- 1941 · Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery as Roy
- 1941 · Sleepers West as Porter (uncredited)
- 1941 · You're Out of Luck as Jeff Jefferson
- 1941 · Up Jumped the Devil as Washington
- 1940 · Four Shall Die as Beefus - Touissant's Chauffeur
- 1940 · Drums of the Desert as Sergeant 'Blue' Williams
- 1940 · While Thousands Cheer as Nash
- 1940 · Up in the Air as Jeff Jefferson
- 1940 · Laughing at Danger as Jefferson
- 1940 · Maryland as
- 1940 · On the Spot as Jefferson White
- 1940 · Girl in 313 as Porter
- 1940 · Viva Cisco Kid as Memphis - The Cook
- 1940 · Star Dust as Waiter on Train
- 1940 · Millionaire Playboy as Bellhop
- 1940 · Chasing Trouble as Thomas H. Jefferson
- 1940 · City of Chance as Anxious Man
- 1940 · The Man Who Wouldn't Talk as Robbins
- 1939 · Irish Luck as Jefferson
- 1939 · Riders of the Frontier as Chappie, the Cook
- 1939 · Tell No Tales as Sport Black at the Wake (uncredited)
- 1939 · One Dark Night as Samson Brown
- 1938 · Gang Smashers as Gloomy
- 1938 · Next Time I Marry as Tilby
- 1938 · Frontier Scout as Norris Family Butler
- 1938 · Two-Gun Man from Harlem as Bill Blake
- 1938 · Spirit of Youth as Creighton 'Crickie' Fitzgibbons
- 1937 · Harlem on the Prairie as Mistletoe
- 1936 · The Green Pastures as Angel Removing Hat (uncredited)
- 1933 · That's the Spirit as Night Watchman
- Future · Ebony Parade as Mantan