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Mantan Moreland
Born · September 3, 1902
Died · September 28, 1973 (71 years old)
Known For: Acting
Place of Birth: Monroe, Louisiana, USA
Bio
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.
The Young Nurses
Old Man
4.2
1973
Watermelon Man
Joe the Counterman
6.4
1970
The Comic
Passerby at Billy's Funeral (unbilled)
5.9
1969
Love, American Style
Stranger · (1 episode)
6.0
1969
The Bill Cosby Show
Uncle Dewey · (1 episode)
5.2
1969
Adam-12
Philip Richards · (1 episode)
7.1
1968
Julia
Harry James · (1 episode)
6.0
1968
Spider Baby
Messenger
6.9
1967
Enter Laughing
Subway Rider
4.0
1967
The Patsy
Barber Shop Porter
6.2
1964
Rockin' the Blues
Self
0.0
1956
Sky Dragon
Birmingham Brown
7.7
1949
Come On, Cowboy!
Mantan
0.0
1949
The Feathered Serpent
Birmingham Brown
5.8
1948
The Golden Eye
Birmingham Brown
5.4
1948
She's Too Mean for Me
0.0
1948
The Shanghai Chest
Birmingham Brown
6.1
1948
The Dreamer
0.0
1948
Docks of New Orleans
Birmingham Brown
5.9
1948
What a Guy
0.0
1948
The Chinese Ring
Birmingham Brown
4.9
1947
Return of Mandy's Husband
Mantan
0.0
1947
The Trap
Birmingham Brown
6.7
1946
Mantan Runs for Mayor
0.0
1946
Shadows Over Chinatown
Birmingham Brown
5.7
1946
Tall, Tan and Terrific
Mantan Moreland
0.0
1946
Dark Alibi
Birmingham Brown
6.1
1946
Riverboat Rhythm
Mantan
5.0
1946
Mantan Messes Up
0.0
1946
The Spider
Harry
5.3
1945
She Wouldn't Say Yes
Porter
5.9
1945
Captain Tugboat Annie
Pinto
0.0
1945
The Shanghai Cobra
Birmingham Brown
5.7
1945
The Scarlet Clue
Birmingham Brown, Chauffeur
5.9
1945
The Jade Mask
Birmingham Brown
6.1
1945
Bowery to Broadway
Alabam
0.0
1944
Black Magic
Birmingham Brown
7.0
1944
South of Dixie
The Porter
0.0
1944
Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
Birmingham Brown, Taxi Driver
6.4
1944
Pin Up Girl
Train Station Porter (uncredited)
6.1
1944
Moon Over Las Vegas
Porter
0.0
1944
See Here, Private Hargrove
Train Porter (uncredited)
6.0
1944
Charlie Chan in the Secret Service
Birmingham Brown
5.9
1944
Chip Off the Old Block
Porter
4.0
1944
Swing Fever
Woody
5.0
1943
Swing Fever
Woody, Nick's Valet (uncredited)
5.0
1943
You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith
Porter
3.5
1943
Revenge of the Zombies
Jefferson 'Jeff' Johnson
5.2
1943
Melody Parade
Skidmore
0.0
1943
We've Never Been Licked
Willie
0.0
1943
Sarong Girl
Maxwell
0.0
1943
Hit the Ice
Porter with Snowshoes (uncredited)
5.9
1943
He Hired the Boss
Bootblack
3.0
1943
Slightly Dangerous
Waiter at Swade's (uncredited)
5.8
1943
Cabin in the Sky
First Idea Man
6.4
1943
Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher
Eustace Smith
4.0
1943
Andy Hardy's Double Life
Prentiss - The Benedict Butler (uncredited)
4.6
1942
Eyes in the Night
Alistair
6.0
1942
Girl Trouble
Flint's Chauffeur
6.5
1942
Phantom Killer
Nicodemus
4.3
1942
A-Haunting We Will Go
Porter
6.0
1942
Footlight Serenade
Amos
0.0
1942
Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost
Lightnin'
4.4
1942
Mr. Washington Goes to Town
Schenectady Washington
3.0
1942
Tarzan's New York Adventure
Sam, the Nightclub Janitor (uncredited)
6.3
1942
The Strange Case of Doctor Rx
Horatio B.Fitz Washington
5.1
1942
Professor Creeps
Washington
0.0
1942
Lucky Ghost
Washington
6.2
1942
Law of the Jungle
Jefferson "Jeff" Jones
5.1
1942
Treat 'Em Rough
'Snake-Eyes'
6.0
1942
Four Jacks and a Jill
Cicero - Wash Room Attendant (uncredited)
6.0
1942
Freckles Comes Home
Jeff the porter
5.0
1942
Marry the Boss's Daughter
Diner Cook
0.0
1941
Birth of the Blues
Black Trumpet Player (uncredited)
5.3
1941
It Started with Eve
Railway Porter (uncredited)
7.1
1941
Let's Go Collegiate
Jeff
5.0
1941
Dressed to Kill
Rusty
6.4
1941
Cracked Nuts
Burgess
0.0
1941
The Gang's All Here
Jefferson 'Jeff' Smith
5.0
1941
King of the Zombies
Jefferson 'Jeff' Jackson
5.2
1941
Sign of the Wolf
Ben
6.0
1941
Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery
Roy
5.3
1941
Sleepers West
Porter (uncredited)
6.3
1941
You're Out of Luck
Jeff Jefferson
6.0
1941
Up Jumped the Devil
Washington
0.0
1941
Four Shall Die
Beefus - Touissant's Chauffeur
0.0
1940
Drums of the Desert
Sergeant 'Blue' Williams
5.5
1940
While Thousands Cheer
Nash
0.0
1940
Up in the Air
Jeff Jefferson
5.5
1940
Laughing at Danger
Jefferson
0.0
1940
Maryland
6.2
1940
On the Spot
Jefferson White
5.3
1940
Girl in 313
Porter
5.6
1940
Viva Cisco Kid
Memphis - The Cook
5.5
1940
Star Dust
Waiter on Train
4.7
1940
Millionaire Playboy
Bellhop
2.7
1940
Chasing Trouble
Thomas H. Jefferson
5.0
1940
City of Chance
Anxious Man
5.2
1940
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
Robbins
4.0
1940
Irish Luck
Jefferson
5.8
1939
Riders of the Frontier
Chappie, the Cook
0.0
1939
Tell No Tales
Sport Black at the Wake (uncredited)
5.3
1939
One Dark Night
Samson Brown
0.0
1939
Gang Smashers
Gloomy
0.0
1938
Next Time I Marry
Tilby
6.8
1938
Frontier Scout
Norris Family Butler
4.5
1938
Two-Gun Man from Harlem
Bill Blake
4.5
1938
Spirit of Youth
Creighton 'Crickie' Fitzgibbons
5.5
1938
Harlem on the Prairie
Mistletoe
5.0
1937
The Green Pastures
Angel Removing Hat (uncredited)
6.3
1936
Ebony Parade
Mantan
0.0
That's the Spirit
Night Watchman
2.0
1933