Mantan Moreland
1902-09-03 ( 122 years old ) in Monroe, Louisiana, USA

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.

Movies

The Young Nurses 1973-03-01
Watermelon Man 1970-05-27
The Comic 1969-11-19
Spider Baby 1967-12-24
Enter Laughing 1967-02-25
The Patsy 1964-06-24
Rockin' the Blues 1956-10-11
Sky Dragon 1949-04-27
Come On, Cowboy! 1949-01-01
The Feathered Serpent 1948-12-19
The Golden Eye 1948-08-29
She's Too Mean for Me 1948-08-23
The Shanghai Chest 1948-07-11
The Dreamer 1948-04-04
Docks of New Orleans 1948-03-21
What a Guy 1948-01-01
The Chinese Ring 1947-12-06
Return of Mandy's Husband 1947-05-22
The Trap 1946-11-30
Mantan Runs for Mayor 1946-08-23
Shadows Over Chinatown 1946-06-27
Tall, Tan and Terrific 1946-06-26
Dark Alibi 1946-05-25
Riverboat Rhythm 1946-02-16
Mantan Messes Up 1946-01-01
The Spider 1945-12-01
She Wouldn't Say Yes 1945-11-29
Captain Tugboat Annie 1945-11-17
The Shanghai Cobra 1945-09-29
The Scarlet Clue 1945-05-11
The Jade Mask 1945-01-26
Bowery to Broadway 1944-11-03
Black Magic 1944-08-19
South of Dixie 1944-06-23
Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat 1944-05-20
Pin Up Girl 1944-04-25
Moon Over Las Vegas 1944-04-01
See Here, Private Hargrove 1944-03-18
Charlie Chan in the Secret Service 1944-02-14
Chip Off the Old Block 1944-02-01
Swing Fever 1943-11-01
Swing Fever 1943-11-01
You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith 1943-10-22
Revenge of the Zombies 1943-09-17
Melody Parade 1943-08-27
We've Never Been Licked 1943-07-29
Sarong Girl 1943-06-11
Hit the Ice 1943-06-02
He Hired the Boss 1943-04-02
Slightly Dangerous 1943-04-01
Cabin in the Sky 1943-03-24
Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher 1943-01-29
Andy Hardy's Double Life 1942-12-01
Eyes in the Night 1942-10-16
Girl Trouble 1942-10-09
Phantom Killer 1942-10-02
A-Haunting We Will Go 1942-08-07
Footlight Serenade 1942-08-01
Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost 1942-06-26
Mr. Washington Goes to Town 1942-05-09
Tarzan's New York Adventure 1942-05-01
The Strange Case of Doctor Rx 1942-03-27
Professor Creeps 1942-02-28
Lucky Ghost 1942-02-10
Law of the Jungle 1942-02-06
Treat 'Em Rough 1942-01-30
Four Jacks and a Jill 1942-01-23
Freckles Comes Home 1942-01-02
Marry the Boss's Daughter 1941-11-28
Birth of the Blues 1941-11-07
It Started with Eve 1941-09-26
Let's Go Collegiate 1941-09-12
Dressed to Kill 1941-08-08
Cracked Nuts 1941-07-02
The Gang's All Here 1941-06-11
King of the Zombies 1941-05-14
Sign of the Wolf 1941-03-25
Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery 1941-03-24
Sleepers West 1941-03-14
You're Out of Luck 1941-01-20
Up Jumped the Devil 1941-01-01
Four Shall Die 1940-10-15
Drums of the Desert 1940-10-06
While Thousands Cheer 1940-09-15
Up in the Air 1940-09-09
Laughing at Danger 1940-08-12
Maryland 1940-07-19
On the Spot 1940-06-11
Girl in 313 1940-05-31
Viva Cisco Kid 1940-04-12
Star Dust 1940-04-06
Millionaire Playboy 1940-03-14
Chasing Trouble 1940-01-30
City of Chance 1940-01-13
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk 1940-01-11
Irish Luck 1939-08-22
Riders of the Frontier 1939-08-15
Tell No Tales 1939-06-12
One Dark Night 1939-01-02
Gang Smashers 1938-12-30
Next Time I Marry 1938-12-09
Frontier Scout 1938-09-16
Two-Gun Man from Harlem 1938-05-01
Spirit of Youth 1938-04-01
Harlem on the Prairie 1937-12-09
The Green Pastures 1936-08-01
That's the Spirit 1933-04-15
Ebony Parade

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