Biography
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 108
1970s
- 1973
The Young Nurses
Old Man
- 1970
Watermelon Man
Joe the Counterman
1960s
- 1969
The Comic
Passerby at Billy's Funeral (unbilled)
- 1968
- 1967
Enter Laughing
Subway Rider
- 1964
The Patsy
Barber Shop Porter
1940s
- 1949
Sky Dragon
Birmingham Brown
Come On, Cowboy!
Mantan
- 1948
The Feathered Serpent
Birmingham Brown
The Golden Eye
Birmingham Brown
She's Too Mean for Me
Movie
The Shanghai Chest
Birmingham Brown
The Dreamer
Movie
What a Guy
Movie
- 1947
The Chinese Ring
Birmingham Brown
Return of Mandy's Husband
Mantan
- 1946
Mantan Runs for Mayor
Movie
Tall, Tan and Terrific
Mantan Moreland
Dark Alibi
Birmingham Brown
Riverboat Rhythm
Mantan
Mantan Messes Up
Mantan
- 1945
The Spider
Harry
She Wouldn't Say Yes
Porter (uncredited)
Captain Tugboat Annie
Pinto
The Scarlet Clue
Birmingham Brown, Chauffeur
The Jade Mask
Birmingham Brown
- 1944
Bowery to Broadway
Alabam
Black Magic
Birmingham Brown
South of Dixie
The Porter
This Is the Life
Porter (uncredited)
Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
Birmingham Brown, Taxi Driver
Pin Up Girl
Train Station Porter (uncredited)
Moon Over Las Vegas
Porter
See Here, Private Hargrove
Train Porter (uncredited)
Charlie Chan in the Secret Service
Birmingham Brown
Chip Off the Old Block
Porter
- 1943
You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith
Porter
Revenge of the Zombies
Jefferson 'Jeff' Johnson
Melody Parade
Skidmore
We've Never Been Licked
Willie
Sarong Girl
Maxwell
Hit the Ice
Porter with Snowshoes (uncredited)
He Hired the Boss
Bootblack
Slightly Dangerous
Waiter at Swade's (uncredited)
Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher
Eustace Smith
- 1942
Phantom Killer
Nicodemus
Footlight Serenade
Amos
Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost
Lightnin'
Mr. Washington Goes to Town
Schenectady Washington
The Strange Case of Doctor Rx
Horatio B.Fitz Washington
Professor Creeps
Washington
Four Jacks and a Jill
Cicero - Wash Room Attendant (uncredited)
Freckles Comes Home
Jeff the porter
- 1941
Birth of the Blues
Black Trumpet Player (uncredited)
It Started with Eve
Railway Porter (uncredited)
Let's Go Collegiate
Jeff
Dressed to Kill
Rusty
Cracked Nuts
Burgess
Sign of the Wolf
Ben
Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery
Roy
Sleepers West
Porter (uncredited)
You're Out of Luck
Jeff Jefferson
Up Jumped the Devil
Washington
- 1940
Four Shall Die
Beefus - Touissant's Chauffeur
Drums of the Desert
Sergeant 'Blue' Williams
While Thousands Cheer
Nash
Laughing at Danger
Jefferson
Maryland
Movie
On the Spot
Jefferson White
Girl in 313
Porter
Viva Cisco Kid
Memphis - The Cook
Star Dust
Waiter on Train
Chasing Trouble
Thomas H. Jefferson
City of Chance
Anxious Man
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
Robbins
1930s
- 1939
Irish Luck
Jefferson
Riders of the Frontier
Chappie, the Cook
Tell No Tales
Sport Black at the Wake (uncredited)
One Dark Night
Samson Brown
- 1938
Next Time I Marry
Tilby
Frontier Scout
Norris Family Butler
Two-Gun Man from Harlem
Bill Blake
Spirit of Youth
Creighton 'Crickie' Fitzgibbons
- 1937
Harlem on the Prairie
Mistletoe
- 1936
The Green Pastures
Angel Removing Hat (uncredited)
- 1933
That's the Spirit
Night Watchman
No release date
Ebony Parade
Mantan
Appearances1
1950s
- 1956
Rockin' the Blues
Self