Mantan Moreland
Biography
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
Jefferson 'Jeff' Jackson
King of the Zombies
Railway Porter (uncredited)
It Started with Eve
Messenger
Spider Baby
Joe the Counterman
Watermelon Man
Amos
Footlight Serenade
Harry
The Spider
Birmingham Brown
Charlie Chan in the Secret Service
Birmingham Brown, Taxi Driver
Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
Birmingham Brown
Black Magic
Birmingham Brown
The Shanghai Cobra
Birmingham Brown, Chauffeur
The Scarlet Clue
Birmingham Brown
The Jade Mask
Birmingham Brown
Shadows Over Chinatown
Birmingham Brown
Dark Alibi
Birmingham Brown
The Trap
Porter (uncredited)
Sleepers West
Birmingham Brown
Docks of New Orleans
Birmingham Brown
The Chinese Ring
Birmingham Brown
The Shanghai Chest
Birmingham Brown
The Feathered Serpent
Alistair
Eyes in the Night
Birmingham Brown
The Golden Eye
Horatio B.Fitz Washington
The Strange Case of Doctor Rx
Washington
Lucky Ghost
Sam, the Nightclub Janitor (uncredited)
Tarzan's New York Adventure
Jeff Jefferson
Up in the Air
First Idea Man
Cabin in the Sky
Black Trumpet Player (uncredited)
Birth of the Blues
Porter (uncredited)
She Wouldn't Say Yes
Jefferson White
On the Spot
Norris Family Butler
Frontier Scout
Nicodemus
Phantom Killer
Ben
Sign of the Wolf
Eustace Smith
Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher
Skidmore
Melody Parade
Woody
Swing Fever
Jeff the porter
Freckles Comes Home
Jefferson 'Jeff' Smith
The Gang's All Here
Jefferson 'Jeff' Johnson
Revenge of the Zombies
Mantan Messes Up
Jeff Jefferson
You're Out of Luck
Cicero - Wash Room Attendant (uncredited)
Four Jacks and a Jill
Tilby
Next Time I Marry
Creighton 'Crickie' Fitzgibbons
Spirit of Youth
Bill Blake
Two-Gun Man from Harlem
Schenectady Washington
Mr. Washington Goes to Town
Jefferson
Irish Luck
Train Station Porter (uncredited)
Pin Up Girl
Maxwell
Sarong Girl
Jeff
Let's Go Collegiate
Mantan
Riverboat Rhythm
Prentiss - The Benedict Butler (uncredited)
Andy Hardy's Double Life
Rusty
Dressed to Kill
Roy
Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery
Pinto
Captain Tugboat Annie
Self
Rockin' the Blues
Subway Rider
Enter Laughing
Porter
Chip Off the Old Block
Mistletoe
Harlem on the Prairie
Washington
Up Jumped the Devil
Washington
Professor Creeps
Mantan
Return of Mandy's Husband
Flint's Chauffeur
Girl Trouble
Sport Black at the Wake (uncredited)
Tell No Tales
Jefferson "Jeff" Jones
Law of the Jungle
Chappie, the Cook
Riders of the Frontier
Porter
Moon Over Las Vegas
Thomas H. Jefferson
Chasing Trouble
Mantan
Come On, Cowboy!
Bellhop
Millionaire Playboy
Robbins
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
Memphis - The Cook
Viva Cisco Kid
'Snake-Eyes'
Treat 'Em Rough
Waiter on Train
Star Dust
Angel Removing Hat (uncredited)
The Green Pastures
Jefferson
Laughing at Danger
Sergeant 'Blue' Williams
Drums of the Desert
Beefus - Touissant's Chauffeur
Four Shall Die
Bootblack
He Hired the Boss
Porter (uncredited)
A-Haunting We Will Go
Mantan Runs for Mayor
The Dreamer
Mantan
Ebony Parade
She's Too Mean for Me
What a Guy
Porter
Girl in 313
Maryland
Anxious Man
City of Chance
Birmingham Brown
Sky Dragon
Gloomy
Gang Smashers
Burgess
Cracked Nuts
Lightnin'
Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost
Waiter at Swade's (uncredited)
Slightly Dangerous
Alabam
Bowery to Broadway
Porter
You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith
The Porter
South of Dixie
Willie
We've Never Been Licked
Porter with Snowshoes (uncredited)
Hit the Ice
Night Watchman
That's the Spirit
Mantan Moreland
Tall, Tan and Terrific
Train Porter (uncredited)
See Here, Private Hargrove
Woody, Nick's Valet (uncredited)
Swing Fever
Barber Shop Porter
The Patsy
Old Man
The Young Nurses
Diner Cook
Marry the Boss's Daughter
Samson Brown
One Dark Night
Nash
While Thousands Cheer
Passerby at Billy's Funeral (unbilled)
The Comic
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
108
Gender
Male
Birthday
1902-09-03
Place of Birth
Monroe, Louisiana, USA
Also Known As
Man Tan Moreland