Mantan Moreland
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.
Known For

The Young Nurses
Old Man
1973

Watermelon Man
Joe the Counterman
1970

The Comic
Passerby at Billy's Funeral (unbilled)
1969

Love, American Style
Stranger · (1 episode)
1969

The Bill Cosby Show
Uncle Dewey · (1 episode)
1969

Adam-12
Philip Richards · (1 episode)
1968

Julia
Harry James · (1 episode)
1968

Spider Baby
Messenger
1967

Enter Laughing
Subway Rider
1967

The Patsy
Barber Shop Porter
1964

Rockin' the Blues
Self
1956

Sky Dragon
Birmingham Brown
1949

Come On, Cowboy!
Mantan
1949

The Feathered Serpent
Birmingham Brown
1948

The Golden Eye
Birmingham Brown
1948

She's Too Mean for Me
1948

The Shanghai Chest
Birmingham Brown
1948

The Dreamer
1948

Docks of New Orleans
Birmingham Brown
1948

What a Guy
1948

The Chinese Ring
Birmingham Brown
1947

Return of Mandy's Husband
Mantan
1947

The Trap
Birmingham Brown
1946

Mantan Runs for Mayor
1946

Shadows Over Chinatown
Birmingham Brown
1946

Tall, Tan and Terrific
Mantan Moreland
1946

Dark Alibi
Birmingham Brown
1946

Riverboat Rhythm
Mantan
1946

Mantan Messes Up
1946

The Spider
Harry
1945

She Wouldn't Say Yes
Porter (uncredited)
1945

Captain Tugboat Annie
Pinto
1945

The Shanghai Cobra
Birmingham Brown
1945

The Scarlet Clue
Birmingham Brown, Chauffeur
1945

The Jade Mask
Birmingham Brown
1945

Bowery to Broadway
Alabam
1944

Black Magic
Birmingham Brown
1944

South of Dixie
The Porter
1944

Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
Birmingham Brown, Taxi Driver
1944

Pin Up Girl
Train Station Porter (uncredited)
1944

Moon Over Las Vegas
Porter
1944

See Here, Private Hargrove
Train Porter (uncredited)
1944

Charlie Chan in the Secret Service
Birmingham Brown
1944

Chip Off the Old Block
Porter
1944

Swing Fever
Woody
1943

Swing Fever
Woody, Nick's Valet (uncredited)
1943

You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith
Porter
1943

Revenge of the Zombies
Jefferson 'Jeff' Johnson
1943
Melody Parade
Skidmore
1943

We've Never Been Licked
Willie
1943

Sarong Girl
Maxwell
1943

Hit the Ice
Porter with Snowshoes (uncredited)
1943

He Hired the Boss
Bootblack
1943

Slightly Dangerous
Waiter at Swade's (uncredited)
1943

Cabin in the Sky
First Idea Man
1943

Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher
Eustace Smith
1943

Andy Hardy's Double Life
Prentiss - The Benedict Butler (uncredited)
1942

Eyes in the Night
Alistair
1942

Girl Trouble
Flint's Chauffeur
1942

Phantom Killer
Nicodemus
1942

A-Haunting We Will Go
Porter (uncredited)
1942

Footlight Serenade
Amos
1942

Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost
Lightnin'
1942

Mr. Washington Goes to Town
Schenectady Washington
1942

Tarzan's New York Adventure
Sam, the Nightclub Janitor (uncredited)
1942

The Strange Case of Doctor Rx
Horatio B.Fitz Washington
1942

Professor Creeps
Washington
1942

Lucky Ghost
Washington
1942

Law of the Jungle
Jefferson "Jeff" Jones
1942
Treat 'Em Rough
'Snake-Eyes'
1942

Four Jacks and a Jill
Cicero - Wash Room Attendant (uncredited)
1942

Freckles Comes Home
Jeff the porter
1942
Marry the Boss's Daughter
Diner Cook
1941

Birth of the Blues
Black Trumpet Player (uncredited)
1941

It Started with Eve
Railway Porter (uncredited)
1941

Let's Go Collegiate
Jeff
1941

Dressed to Kill
Rusty
1941

Cracked Nuts
Burgess
1941

The Gang's All Here
Jefferson 'Jeff' Smith
1941

King of the Zombies
Jefferson 'Jeff' Jackson
1941

Sign of the Wolf
Ben
1941

Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery
Roy
1941

Sleepers West
Porter (uncredited)
1941

You're Out of Luck
Jeff Jefferson
1941

Up Jumped the Devil
Washington
1941

Four Shall Die
Beefus - Touissant's Chauffeur
1940

Drums of the Desert
Sergeant 'Blue' Williams
1940

While Thousands Cheer
Nash
1940

Up in the Air
Jeff Jefferson
1940

Laughing at Danger
Jefferson
1940

Maryland
1940

On the Spot
Jefferson White
1940

Girl in 313
Porter
1940

Viva Cisco Kid
Memphis - The Cook
1940

Star Dust
Waiter on Train
1940

Millionaire Playboy
Bellhop
1940

Chasing Trouble
Thomas H. Jefferson
1940

City of Chance
Anxious Man
1940

The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
Robbins
1940

Irish Luck
Jefferson
1939

Riders of the Frontier
Chappie, the Cook
1939

Tell No Tales
Sport Black at the Wake (uncredited)
1939

One Dark Night
Samson Brown
1939
Gang Smashers
Gloomy
1938

Next Time I Marry
Tilby
1938

Frontier Scout
Norris Family Butler
1938

Two-Gun Man from Harlem
Bill Blake
1938

Spirit of Youth
Creighton 'Crickie' Fitzgibbons
1938

Harlem on the Prairie
Mistletoe
1937

The Green Pastures
Angel Removing Hat (uncredited)
1936

Ebony Parade
Mantan

That's the Spirit
Night Watchman
1933