Person Details

Birthday: 1902-09-03 07:34:25

Death: 1973-09-28 07:34:25

Aliases: Man Tan Moreland , Manton Moreland , Manten Moreland , Carter & Moreland , Moreland

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Monroe, Louisiana, USA

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 43

TV Involvements: 1


Most Famous Work

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.

Most Famous Work

Eyes in the Night
Average
6

Eyes in the Night

(1942) Alistair
The Strange Case of Doctor Rx
Average
5

The Strange Case of Doctor Rx

(1942) Horatio B.Fitz Washington
Charlie Chan in The Jade Mask
Average
6

Charlie Chan in The Jade Mask

(1945) Birmingham Brown
Cabin in the Sky
Average
6

Cabin in the Sky

(1943) First Idea Man
Pin Up Girl
Average
6

Pin Up Girl

(1944) Train Station Porter
Sleepers West
Average
6

Sleepers West

(1941) Porter (uncredited)
The Shanghai Cobra
Average
6

The Shanghai Cobra

(1945) Birmingham Brown
The Young Nurses
Average
3

The Young Nurses

(1973) Old Man

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
1986 Jefferson Jackson in 'King of the Zombies'
1973 Old Man
1970 Counterman
1969 Uncle Dewey
1968 Philip Richards
Harry James
1967 Messenger
Subway Rider
1964 Barber Shop Porter
1956 Self
1949 Birmingham Brown
Mantan
1948 Birmingham Brown
Birmingham Brown
Birmingham Brown
Birmingham Brown
1947 Birmingham Brown
Mantan
1946 Birmingham Brown
Birmingham Brown
Mantan Moreland
Birmingham Brown
Mantan
N/A
1945 Harry
Porter (uncredited)
Pinto
Birmingham Brown
Birmingham Brown, Chauffeur
Birmingham Brown
1944 Alabam
Birmingham Brown
The Porter
Birmingham Brown, Taxi Driver
Train Station Porter (uncredited)
Porter
Train Porter (uncredited)
Birmingham Brown
Porter
1943 Woody
Woody, Nick's Valet (uncredited)
Porter
Jefferson 'Jeff' Johnson
Skidmore
Willie
Maxwell
Porter with Snowshoes (uncredited)
First Idea Man
Bootblack
Waiter at Swade's (uncredited)
Eustace Smith
1942 Prentiss - The Benedict Butler (uncredited)
Alistair
Flint's Chauffeur
Nicodemus
Porter (uncredited)
Amos
Lightnin'
Schenectady Jones
Sam, the Nightclub Janitor (uncredited)
Horatio B.Fitz Washington
Washington
Washington
Jefferson "Jeff" Jones
'Snake-Eyes'
Cicero - Wash Room Attendant (uncredited)
Jeff the porter
1941 Diner Cook
Black Trumpet Player (uncredited)
Railway Porter (uncredited)
Jeff
Rusty
Burgess
Jefferson 'Jeff' Smith
Jefferson 'Jeff' Jackson
Ben
Roy
Porter (uncredited)
Jeff Jefferson
Washington
1940 Beefus - Touissant's Chauffeur
Sergeant 'Blue' Williams
Nash
Jeff Jefferson
Jefferson
N/A
Jefferson White
Porter
Memphis - The Cook
Waiter on Train
Bellhop
Thomas H. Jefferson
Anxious Man
Robbins
1939 Jefferson
Chappie, the Cook
Sport Black at the Wake (uncredited)
1938 Gloomy
Tilby
Norris Family Butler
Bill Blake
Creighton 'Crickie' Fitzgibbons
1937 Mistletoe
1933 Night Watchman
Samson Brown
Year Character Movie/Tv

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