MM
Mantan Moreland
Actor
Born September 3, 1902Died September 28, 1973 (71 years)
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.
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.
Movies & Shows on Plex
Known For
Filmography
| 2004 | |
| 1993 | Mo' Funny: Black Comedy in America · as Birmingham Brown |
| 1986 | Horrible Horror · as Jefferson 'jeff' Jackson |
| 1973 | The Young Nurses · as Old Man |
| 1972 | The Biscuit Eater · as Waiter |
| 1970 | Watermelon Man · as Joe The Counterman |
| 1969 | The Comic · as Passerby At Billy's Funeral (unbilled) |
| 1969 | Love, American Style (TV Series) · as Stranger |
| 1969 | The Bill Cosby Show (TV Series) · as Uncle Dewey |
| 1968 | Adam-12 (TV Series) · as Philip Richards |
| 1968 | Julia (TV Series) · as Harry James |
| 1967 | Spider Baby · as Messenger |
| 1967 | Enter Laughing · as Subway Rider |
| 1966 | Alvarez Kelly · as Bartender |
| 1964 | The Patsy · as Barber Shop Porter |
| 1949 | The Sky Dragon · as Birmingham Brown |
| 1948 | The Feathered Serpent · as Birmingham Brown |
| 1948 | The Golden Eye · as Birmingham Brown |
| 1948 | The Shanghai Chest · as Birmingham Brown |
| 1948 | Best Man Wins · as Ice Cream Vendor |
| 1948 | Docks of New Orleans · as Birmingham Brown |
| 1947 | The Chinese Ring · as Birmingham Brown |
| 1946 | The Trap · as Birmingham Brown |
| 1946 | Shadows Over Chinatown · as Birmingham Brown |
| 1946 | Dark Alibi · as Birmingham Brown |
| 1946 | Riverboat Rhythm · as Mantan |
| 1945 | The Spider · as Harry |
| 1945 | She Wouldn't Say Yes · as Porter (uncredited) |
| 1945 | The Shanghai Cobra · as Birmingham Brown |
| 1945 | The Scarlet Clue · as Birmingham Brown, Chauffeur |
| 1945 | The Jade Mask · as Birmingham Brown |
| 1944 | Bowery to Broadway · as Alabam |
| 1944 | Mystery of the River Boat · as Napoleon |
| 1944 | Black Magic · as Birmingham Brown |
| 1944 | This Is the Life · as Porter |
| 1944 | Charlie Chan in the Chinese Cat · as Birmingham Brown, Taxi Driver |
| 1944 | Pin Up Girl · as Train Station Porter (uncredited) |
| 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 | My Kingdom for a Cook · as Train Porter |
| 1943 | Revenge of the Zombies · as Jefferson 'jeff' Johnson |
| 1943 | We've Never Been Licked · as Willie |
| 1943 | Melody Parade · as Skidmore |
| 1943 | Sarong Girl · as Maxwell |
| 1943 | Hit the Ice · as Porter With Snowshoes (uncredited) |
| 1943 | Cabin in the Sky · as First Idea Man |
| 1943 | He Hired the Boss · as Bootblack |
| 1943 | Slightly Dangerous · as Waiter At Swade's (uncredited) |
| 1943 | Cosmo Jones in the Crime Smasher · as Eustace Smith |
| 1942 | Andy Hardy's Double Life · as Prentiss - The Benedict Butler (uncredited) |
| 1942 | The Palm Beach Story · as Diner Waiter |
| 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 | Tarzan's New York Adventure · as Sam, The Nightclub Janitor (uncredited) |
| 1942 | The Strange Case of Doctor Rx · as Horatio B.fitz Washington |
| 1942 | Lucky Ghost · as Washington |
| 1942 | Law of the Jungle · as Jefferson "jeff" Jones |
| 1942 | Four Jacks and a Jill · as Cicero - Wash Room Attendant (uncredited) |
| 1942 | Freckles Comes Home · as Jeff The Porter |
| 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 | World Premiere · as Train Porter |
| 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 | Mr. Washington Goes to Town · as Schenectady Washington |
| 1941 | Sign of the Wolf · as Ben |
| 1941 | Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery · as Roy |
| 1941 | Footlight Fever · as Willie Hamsure - Elevator Operator |
| 1941 | Sleepers West · as Porter (uncredited) |
| 1941 | You're Out of Luck · as Jeff Jefferson |
| 1940 | Drums of the Desert · as Sergeant 'blue' Williams |
| 1940 | Up in the Air · as Jeff Jefferson |
| 1940 | Pier 13 · as Sam - Elevator Operator |
| 1940 | |
| 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 | The Man Who Wouldn't Talk · as Robbins |
| 1940 | City of Chance · as Anxious Man |
| 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) |
| 1938 | Gang Smashers · as Gloomy |
| 1938 | There's That Woman Again · as Porter |
| 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 | Sunday Go to Meetin' Time · as Black Singers |
| 1936 | The Green Pastures · as Angel Removing Hat (uncredited) |