Acting
Mantan Moreland
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.
Filmography
The Young Nurses
Film · 1973
Watermelon Man
Film · 1970
The Comic
Film · 1969
The Bill Cosby Show
Series · 1969
Love, American Style
Series · 1969
Julia
Series · 1968
Adam-12
Series · 1968
Spider Baby
Film · 1967
Enter Laughing
Film · 1967
The Patsy
Film · 1964
Rockin' the Blues
Film · 1956
Come On, Cowboy!
Film · 1949
Sky Dragon
Film · 1949
Docks of New Orleans
Film · 1948
The Shanghai Chest
Film · 1948
The Feathered Serpent
Film · 1948
The Golden Eye
Film · 1948
The Dreamer
Film · 1948
She's Too Mean for Me
Film · 1948
What a Guy
Film · 1948
The Chinese Ring
Film · 1947
Return of Mandy's Husband
Film · 1947
Shadows Over Chinatown
Film · 1946
Dark Alibi
Film · 1946
The Trap
Film · 1946
Mantan Messes Up
Film · 1946
Riverboat Rhythm
Film · 1946
Mantan Runs for Mayor
Film · 1946
Tall, Tan and Terrific
Film · 1946
The Spider
Film · 1945
The Shanghai Cobra
Film · 1945
The Scarlet Clue
Film · 1945
The Jade Mask
Film · 1945
She Wouldn't Say Yes
Film · 1945
Captain Tugboat Annie
Film · 1945
Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
Film · 1944
Charlie Chan in the Secret Service
Film · 1944
Black Magic
Film · 1944
Pin Up Girl
Film · 1944
Chip Off the Old Block
Film · 1944
Moon Over Las Vegas
Film · 1944
Bowery to Broadway
Film · 1944
South of Dixie
Film · 1944
See Here, Private Hargrove
Film · 1944
This Is the Life
Film · 1944
Cabin in the Sky
Film · 1943
Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher
Film · 1943
Melody Parade
Film · 1943
Swing Fever
Film · 1943
Revenge of the Zombies
Film · 1943
Sarong Girl
Film · 1943
He Hired the Boss
Film · 1943
Slightly Dangerous
Film · 1943
You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith
Film · 1943
We've Never Been Licked
Film · 1943
Hit the Ice
Film · 1943
Swing Fever
Film · 1943
Footlight Serenade
Film · 1942
Eyes in the Night
Film · 1942
The Strange Case of Doctor Rx
Film · 1942
Lucky Ghost
Film · 1942
Tarzan's New York Adventure
Film · 1942
Phantom Killer
Film · 1942
Freckles Comes Home
Film · 1942
Four Jacks and a Jill
Film · 1942
Mr. Washington Goes to Town
Film · 1942
Andy Hardy's Double Life
Film · 1942
Professor Creeps
Film · 1942
Girl Trouble
Film · 1942
Law of the Jungle
Film · 1942
Treat 'Em Rough
Film · 1942
A-Haunting We Will Go
Film · 1942
Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost
Film · 1942
A-Haunting We Will Go
Film · 1942
King of the Zombies
Film · 1941
It Started with Eve
Film · 1941
Sleepers West
Film · 1941
Birth of the Blues
Film · 1941
Sign of the Wolf
Film · 1941
The Gang's All Here
Film · 1941
You're Out of Luck
Film · 1941
Let's Go Collegiate
Film · 1941
Dressed to Kill
Film · 1941
Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery
Film · 1941
Up Jumped the Devil
Film · 1941
Cracked Nuts
Film · 1941
Marry the Boss's Daughter
Film · 1941
Up in the Air
Film · 1940
On the Spot
Film · 1940
Chasing Trouble
Film · 1940
Millionaire Playboy
Film · 1940
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
Film · 1940
Viva Cisco Kid
Film · 1940
Star Dust
Film · 1940
Laughing at Danger
Film · 1940
Drums of the Desert
Film · 1940
Four Shall Die
Film · 1940
Girl in 313
Film · 1940
Maryland
Film · 1940
City of Chance
Film · 1940
While Thousands Cheer
Film · 1940
Irish Luck
Film · 1939
Tell No Tales
Film · 1939
Riders of the Frontier
Film · 1939
One Dark Night
Film · 1939
Frontier Scout
Film · 1938
Next Time I Marry
Film · 1938
Spirit of Youth
Film · 1938
Two-Gun Man from Harlem
Film · 1938
Gang Smashers
Film · 1938
Harlem on the Prairie
Film · 1937
The Green Pastures
Film · 1936
That's the Spirit
Film · 1933
Ebony Parade
Film