Mantan Moreland

Also Known As: Man Tan Moreland, Manton Moreland, Manten Moreland, Carter & Moreland, 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.

Department: Acting

Place of Birth: Monroe, Louisiana, USA

Adult: No

Birthday: September 03, 1902

Age: 122 years old

Gender: Male

Deathday: September 28, 1973

Popularity:

1.79%

Known For:

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