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Born · September 3, 1902
Died · September 28, 1973 (71 years old)
Known For: Acting
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.
Old Man
4.2
1973
Joe the Counterman
6.4
1970
Passerby at Billy's Funeral (unbilled)
5.9
1969
Stranger · (1 episode)
6.0
1969
Uncle Dewey · (1 episode)
5.2
1969
Philip Richards · (1 episode)
7.1
1968
Harry James · (1 episode)
6.0
1968
Messenger
6.9
1967
Subway Rider
4.0
1967
Barber Shop Porter
6.2
1964
Self
0.0
1956
Birmingham Brown
7.7
1949
Mantan
0.0
1949
Birmingham Brown
5.8
1948
Birmingham Brown
5.4
1948
0.0
1948
Birmingham Brown
6.1
1948
0.0
1948
Birmingham Brown
5.9
1948
0.0
1948
Birmingham Brown
4.9
1947
Mantan
0.0
1947
Birmingham Brown
6.7
1946
0.0
1946
Birmingham Brown
5.7
1946
Mantan Moreland
0.0
1946
Birmingham Brown
6.1
1946
Mantan
5.0
1946
0.0
1946
Harry
5.3
1945
Porter
5.9
1945
Pinto
0.0
1945
Birmingham Brown
5.7
1945
Birmingham Brown, Chauffeur
5.9
1945
Birmingham Brown
6.1
1945
Alabam
0.0
1944
Birmingham Brown
7.0
1944
The Porter
0.0
1944
Birmingham Brown, Taxi Driver
6.4
1944
Train Station Porter (uncredited)
6.1
1944
Porter
0.0
1944
Train Porter (uncredited)
6.0
1944
Birmingham Brown
5.9
1944
Porter
4.0
1944
Woody
5.0
1943
Woody, Nick's Valet (uncredited)
5.0
1943
Porter
3.5
1943
Jefferson 'Jeff' Johnson
5.2
1943
Skidmore
0.0
1943
Willie
0.0
1943
Maxwell
0.0
1943
Porter with Snowshoes (uncredited)
5.9
1943
Bootblack
3.0
1943
Waiter at Swade's (uncredited)
5.8
1943
First Idea Man
6.4
1943
Eustace Smith
4.0
1943
Prentiss - The Benedict Butler (uncredited)
4.6
1942
Alistair
6.0
1942
Flint's Chauffeur
6.5
1942
Nicodemus
4.3
1942
Porter
6.0
1942
Amos
0.0
1942
Lightnin'
4.4
1942
Schenectady Washington
3.0
1942
Sam, the Nightclub Janitor (uncredited)
6.3
1942
Horatio B.Fitz Washington
5.1
1942
Washington
0.0
1942
Washington
6.2
1942
Jefferson "Jeff" Jones
5.1
1942
'Snake-Eyes'
6.0
1942
Cicero - Wash Room Attendant (uncredited)
6.0
1942
Jeff the porter
5.0
1942
Diner Cook
0.0
1941
Black Trumpet Player (uncredited)
5.3
1941
Railway Porter (uncredited)
7.1
1941
Jeff
5.0
1941
Rusty
6.4
1941
Burgess
0.0
1941
Jefferson 'Jeff' Smith
5.0
1941
Jefferson 'Jeff' Jackson
5.2
1941
Ben
6.0
1941
Roy
5.3
1941
Porter (uncredited)
6.3
1941
Jeff Jefferson
6.0
1941
Washington
0.0
1941
Beefus - Touissant's Chauffeur
0.0
1940
Sergeant 'Blue' Williams
5.5
1940
Nash
0.0
1940
Jeff Jefferson
5.5
1940
Jefferson
0.0
1940
6.2
1940
Jefferson White
5.3
1940
Porter
5.6
1940
Memphis - The Cook
5.5
1940
Waiter on Train
4.7
1940
Bellhop
2.7
1940
Thomas H. Jefferson
5.0
1940
Anxious Man
5.2
1940
Robbins
4.0
1940
Jefferson
5.8
1939
Chappie, the Cook
0.0
1939
Sport Black at the Wake (uncredited)
5.3
1939
Samson Brown
0.0
1939
Gloomy
0.0
1938
Tilby
6.8
1938
Norris Family Butler
4.5
1938
Bill Blake
4.5
1938
Creighton 'Crickie' Fitzgibbons
5.5
1938
Mistletoe
5.0
1937
Angel Removing Hat (uncredited)
6.3
1936
Mantan
0.0
Night Watchman
2.0
1933