Mantan Moreland
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.
Acted in
Horrible Horror
1986
as Jefferson Jackson in 'King of the Zombies'
The Young Nurses
1973
as Old Man
Watermelon Man
1970
as Joe the Counterman
The Comic
1969
as Passerby at Billy's Funeral (unbilled)
The Bill Cosby Show
1969
as Uncle Dewey
Adam-12
1968
as Philip Richards
Julia
1968
as Harry James
Spider Baby
1967
as Messenger
Enter Laughing
1967
as Subway Rider
The Patsy
1964
as Barber Shop Porter
Rockin' the Blues
1956
as Self
Sky Dragon
1949
as Birmingham Brown
Come On, Cowboy!
1949
as Mantan
The Feathered Serpent
1948
as Birmingham Brown
The Golden Eye
1948
as Birmingham Brown
She's Too Mean for Me
1948
Shanghai Chest
1948
as Birmingham Brown
The Dreamer
1948
Docks of New Orleans
1948
as Birmingham Brown
What a Guy
1948
The Chinese Ring
1947
as Birmingham Brown
Return of Mandy's Husband
1947
as Mantan
The Trap
1946
as Birmingham Brown
Mantan Runs for Mayor
1946
Shadows Over Chinatown
1946
as Birmingham Brown
Tall, Tan and Terrific
1946
as Mantan Moreland
Dark Alibi
1946
as Birmingham Brown
Riverboat Rhythm
1946
as Mantan
Mantan Messes Up
1946
The Spider
1945
as Harry
She Wouldn't Say Yes
1945
as Porter (uncredited)
Captain Tugboat Annie
1945
as Pinto
The Shanghai Cobra
1945
as Birmingham Brown
The Scarlet Clue
1945
as Birmingham Brown, Chauffeur
Charlie Chan in The Jade Mask
1945
as Birmingham Brown
Bowery to Broadway
1944
as Alabam
Black Magic
1944
as Birmingham Brown
South of Dixie
1944
as The Porter
Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
1944
as Birmingham Brown, Taxi Driver
Pin Up Girl
1944
as Train Station Porter (uncredited)
Moon Over Las Vegas
1944
as Porter
See Here, Private Hargrove
1944
as Train Porter (uncredited)
Charlie Chan in the Secret Service
1944
as Birmingham Brown
Chip Off the Old Block
1944
as Porter
Swing Fever
1943
as Woody
Swing Fever
1943
as Woody, Nick's Valet (uncredited)
You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith
1943
as Porter
Revenge of the Zombies
1943
as Jefferson 'Jeff' Johnson
Melody Parade
1943
as Skidmore
We've Never Been Licked
1943
as Willie
Sarong Girl
1943
as Maxwell
Hit the Ice
1943
as Porter with Snowshoes (uncredited)
He Hired the Boss
1943
as Bootblack
Slightly Dangerous
1943
as Waiter at Swade's (uncredited)
Cabin in the Sky
1943
as First Idea Man
Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher
1943
as Eustace Smith
Andy Hardy's Double Life
1942
as Prentiss - The Benedict Butler (uncredited)
Eyes in the Night
1942
as Alistair
Girl Trouble
1942
as Flint's Chauffeur
Phantom Killer
1942
as Nicodemus
A-Haunting We Will Go
1942
as Porter (uncredited)
Footlight Serenade
1942
as Amos
Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost
1942
as Lightnin'
Mr. Washington Goes to Town
1942
as Schenectady Jones
Tarzan's New York Adventure
1942
as Sam, the Nightclub Janitor (uncredited)
The Strange Case of Doctor Rx
1942
as Horatio B.Fitz Washington
Professor Creeps
1942
as Washington
Lucky Ghost
1942
as Washington
Law of the Jungle
1942
as Jefferson "Jeff" Jones
Treat 'Em Rough
1942
as 'Snake-Eyes'
Four Jacks and a Jill
1942
as Cicero - Wash Room Attendant (uncredited)
Freckles Comes Home
1942
as Jeff the porter
Marry the Boss's Daughter
1941
as Diner Cook
Birth of the Blues
1941
as Black Trumpet Player (uncredited)
It Started with Eve
1941
as Railway Porter (uncredited)
Let's Go Collegiate
1941
as Jeff
Dressed to Kill
1941
as Rusty
Cracked Nuts
1941
as Burgess
The Gang's All Here
1941
as Jefferson 'Jeff' Smith
King of the Zombies
1941
as Jefferson 'Jeff' Jackson
Sign of the Wolf
1941
as Ben
Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery
1941
as Roy
Sleepers West
1941
as Porter (uncredited)
You're Out of Luck
1941
as Jeff Jefferson
Up Jumped the Devil
1941
as Washington
Four Shall Die
1940
as Beefus - Touissant's Chauffeur
Drums of the Desert
1940
as Sergeant 'Blue' Williams
While Thousands Cheer
1940
as Nash
Up in the Air
1940
as Jeff Jefferson
Laughing at Danger
1940
as Jefferson
Maryland
1940
On the Spot
1940
as Jefferson White
Girl in 313
1940
as Porter
Viva Cisco Kid
1940
as Memphis - The Cook
Star Dust
1940
as Waiter on Train
Millionaire Playboy
1940
as Bellhop
Chasing Trouble
1940
as Thomas H. Jefferson
City of Chance
1940
as Anxious Man
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
1940
as Robbins
Irish Luck
1939
as Jefferson
Riders of the Frontier
1939
as Chappie, the Cook
Tell No Tales
1939
as Sport Black at the Wake (uncredited)
One Dark Night
1939
as Samson Brown
Gang Smashers
1938
as Gloomy
Next Time I Marry
1938
as Tilby
Frontier Scout
1938
as Norris Family Butler
Two-Gun Man from Harlem
1938
as Bill Blake
Spirit of Youth
1938
as Creighton 'Crickie' Fitzgibbons
Harlem on the Prairie
1937
as Mistletoe
The Green Pastures
1936
as Angel Removing Hat (uncredited)
That's the Spirit
1933
as Night Watchman
Ebony Parade
as Mantan