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.
Movie | Horrible Horror | Jefferson Jackson in 'King of the Zombies' | 1986-01-01 |
Movie | The Young Nurses | Old Man | 1973-03-01 |
Movie | Watermelon Man | Joe the Counterman | 1970-05-27 |
Series | The Bill Cosby Show | Unknown | 1969-09-14 |
Movie | Black History: Lost, Stolen or Strayed | 1968-08-31 | |
Series | Julia | Unknown | 1968-09-17 |
Movie | Enter Laughing | Subway Rider | 1967-02-25 |
Movie | Spider Baby | Messenger | 1967-12-24 |
Movie | The Patsy | Barber Shop Porter | 1964-06-24 |
Movie | Rockin' the Blues | Self | 1956-10-11 |
Movie | Sky Dragon | Birmingham Brown | 1949-04-27 |
Movie | Docks of New Orleans | Birmingham Brown | 1948-03-21 |
Movie | Shanghai Chest | Birmingham Brown | 1948-07-11 |
Movie | The Golden Eye | Birmingham Brown | 1948-08-29 |
Movie | The Feathered Serpent | Birmingham Brown | 1948-12-19 |
Movie | The Chinese Ring | Birmingham Brown | 1947-12-06 |
Movie | Riverboat Rhythm | Mantan | 1946-02-16 |
Movie | The Trap | Birmingham Brown | 1946-11-30 |
Movie | Dark Alibi | Birmingham Brown | 1946-05-25 |
Movie | Tall, Tan and Terrific | Mantan Moreland | 1946-06-26 |
Movie | Shadows Over Chinatown | Birmingham Brown | 1946-06-27 |
Movie | The Scarlet Clue | Birmingham Brown, Chauffeur | 1945-05-11 |
Movie | Charlie Chan in The Jade Mask | Birmingham Brown | 1945-01-26 |
Movie | The Shanghai Cobra | Birmingham Brown | 1945-09-29 |
Movie | She Wouldn't Say Yes | Porter (uncredited) | 1945-11-29 |
Movie | The Spider | Harry | 1945-12-01 |
Movie | See Here, Private Hargrove | Train Porter (uncredited) | 1944-03-18 |
Movie | Moon Over Las Vegas | Porter | 1944-04-01 |
Movie | Chip Off the Old Block | Porter | 1944-02-01 |
Movie | Pin Up Girl | Train Station Porter (uncredited) | 1944-04-25 |
Movie | Charlie Chan in the Secret Service | Birmingham Brown | 1944-02-14 |
Movie | Bowery to Broadway | Alabam | 1944-11-03 |
Movie | Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat | Birmingham Brown, Taxi Driver | 1944-05-20 |
Movie | Black Magic | Birmingham Brown | 1944-08-19 |
Movie | Mystery of the Riverboat | Napoleon | 1944-10-24 |
Movie | South of Dixie | The Porter | 1944-06-23 |
Movie | He Hired the Boss | Bootblack | 1943-04-02 |
Movie | Slightly Dangerous | Waiter at Swade's (uncredited) | 1943-04-01 |
Movie | Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher | Eustace Smith | 1943-01-29 |
Movie | Hit the Ice | Porter with Snowshoes (uncredited) | 1943-06-02 |
Movie | Cabin in the Sky | First Idea Man | 1943-04-09 |
Movie | Sarong Girl | Maxwell | 1943-06-11 |
Movie | Swing Fever | Woody, Nick's Valet (uncredited) | 1943-11-01 |
Movie | Revenge of the Zombies | Jefferson 'Jeff' Johnson | 1943-09-17 |
Movie | Melody Parade | Skidmore | 1943-08-27 |
Movie | We've Never Been Licked | Willie | 1943-07-29 |
Movie | Lucky Ghost | Washington | 1942-02-10 |
Movie | The Strange Case of Doctor Rx | Horatio B.Fitz Washington | 1942-03-27 |
Movie | Law of the Jungle | Jefferson "Jeff" Jones | 1942-02-06 |
Movie | Freckles Comes Home | Jeff the porter | 1942-01-02 |
Movie | Tarzan's New York Adventure | Sam, the Nightclub Janitor (uncredited) | 1942-05-01 |
Movie | Four Jacks and a Jill | Cicero - Wash Room Attendant (uncredited) | 1942-01-23 |
Movie | Treat 'Em Rough | 'Snake-Eyes' | 1942-01-30 |
Movie | Eyes in the Night | Alistair | 1942-10-16 |
Movie | Girl Trouble | Flint's Chauffeur | 1942-10-09 |
Movie | Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost | Lightnin' | 1942-06-26 |
Movie | Phantom Killer | Nicodemus | 1942-10-02 |
Movie | Andy Hardy's Double Life | Prentiss - The Benedict Butler (uncredited) | 1942-12-01 |
Movie | A-Haunting We Will Go | Porter (uncredited) | 1942-08-07 |
Movie | Footlight Serenade | Amos | 1942-08-01 |
Movie | Sign of the Wolf | Ben | 1941-03-25 |
Movie | Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery | Roy | 1941-03-24 |
Movie | You're Out of Luck | Jeff Jefferson | 1941-01-20 |
Movie | King of the Zombies | Jefferson 'Jeff' Jackson | 1941-05-14 |
Movie | Sleepers West | Porter (uncredited) | 1941-03-14 |
Movie | The Gang's All Here | Jefferson 'Jeff' Smith | 1941-06-11 |
Movie | Birth of the Blues | Black Trumpet Player (uncredited) | 1941-11-07 |
Movie | Marry the Boss's Daughter | Diner Cook | 1941-11-28 |
Movie | Let's Go Collegiate | Jeff | 1941-09-12 |
Movie | It Started with Eve | Railway Porter (uncredited) | 1941-09-26 |
Movie | Cracked Nuts | Burgess | 1941-07-02 |
Movie | Dressed to Kill | Rusty | 1941-08-08 |
Movie | Star Dust | Waiter on Train | 1940-04-06 |
Movie | Viva Cisco Kid | Memphis - The Cook | 1940-04-12 |
Movie | Millionaire Playboy | Bellhop | 1940-03-14 |
Movie | The Man Who Wouldn't Talk | Robbins | 1940-01-11 |
Movie | Girl in 313 | Porter | 1940-05-31 |
Movie | City of Chance | Anxious Man | 1940-01-13 |
Movie | Chasing Trouble | Thomas H. Jefferson | 1940-01-30 |
Movie | While Thousands Cheer | Nash | 1940-09-15 |
Movie | Drums of the Desert | Sergeant 'Blue' Williams | 1940-10-06 |
Movie | Four Shall Die | Beefus - Touissant's Chauffeur | 1940-10-15 |
Movie | On the Spot | Jefferson White | 1940-06-11 |
Movie | Up in the Air | Jeff Jefferson | 1940-09-09 |
Movie | Laughing at Danger | Jefferson | 1940-08-12 |
Movie | Maryland | 1940-07-19 | |
Movie | Tell No Tales | Sport Black at the Wake (uncredited) | 1939-06-12 |
Movie | Riders of the Frontier | Chappie, the Cook | 1939-08-15 |
Movie | Irish Luck | Jefferson | 1939-08-22 |
Movie | Two-Gun Man from Harlem | Bill Blake | 1938-05-01 |
Movie | Spirit of Youth | Creighton 'Crickie' Fitzgibbons | 1938-04-01 |
Movie | Frontier Scout | Norris Family Butler | 1938-09-16 |
Movie | Next Time I Marry | Tilby | 1938-12-09 |
Movie | Gang Smashers | Gloomy | 1938-12-30 |
Movie | Harlem on the Prairie | Mistletoe | 1937-12-09 |
Movie | That's the Spirit | Night Watchman | 1933-04-15 |