Mantan Moreland, Acting - KorPlix:Korean Person Archives

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Mantan Moreland
Acting

Mantan Moreland
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1902-09-03,Monroe, Louisiana, USA
Gender
Male
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.

Filmography

King of the Zombies

5.2

King of the Zombies
1941-05-14

It Started with Eve

7.1

It Started with Eve
1941-09-26

6.9

Spider Baby
1967-12-24

6.4

Watermelon Man
1970-05-27

Footlight Serenade

0

Footlight Serenade
1942-08-01

5.3

The Spider
1945-12-01

Charlie Chan in the Secret Service

5.9

Charlie Chan in the Secret Service
1944-02-14

Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat

6.4

Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
1944-05-20

7

Black Magic
1944-08-19

The Shanghai Cobra

5.7

The Shanghai Cobra
1945-09-29

The Scarlet Clue

5.9

The Scarlet Clue
1945-05-11

6.1

The Jade Mask
1945-01-26

Shadows Over Chinatown

5.7

Shadows Over Chinatown
1946-06-27

6.1

Dark Alibi
1946-05-25

6.7

The Trap
1946-11-30

6.3

Sleepers West
1941-03-14

Docks of New Orleans

5.9

Docks of New Orleans
1948-03-21

The Chinese Ring

4.9

The Chinese Ring
1947-12-06

The Shanghai Chest

6.1

The Shanghai Chest
1948-07-11

The Feathered Serpent

5.8

The Feathered Serpent
1948-12-19

Eyes in the Night

6

Eyes in the Night
1942-10-16

5.4

The Golden Eye
1948-08-29

The Strange Case of Doctor Rx

5.1

The Strange Case of Doctor Rx
1942-03-27

6.2

Lucky Ghost
1942-02-10

Tarzan's New York Adventure

6.3

Tarzan's New York Adventure
1942-05-01

5.5

Up in the Air
1940-09-09

Cabin in the Sky

6.4

Cabin in the Sky
1943-03-24

Birth of the Blues

5.3

Birth of the Blues
1941-11-07

She Wouldn't Say Yes

5.9

She Wouldn't Say Yes
1945-11-29

5.3

On the Spot
1940-06-11

4.5

Frontier Scout
1938-09-16

4.3

Phantom Killer
1942-10-02

Sign of the Wolf

6

Sign of the Wolf
1941-03-25

Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher

4

Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher
1943-01-29

0

Melody Parade
1943-08-27

5

Swing Fever
1943-11-01

Freckles Comes Home

5

Freckles Comes Home
1942-01-02

The Gang's All Here

5

The Gang's All Here
1941-06-11

Revenge of the Zombies

5.2

Revenge of the Zombies
1943-09-17

Mantan Messes Up

0

Mantan Messes Up
1946-01-01

You're Out of Luck

6

You're Out of Luck
1941-01-20

Four Jacks and a Jill

6

Four Jacks and a Jill
1942-01-23

Next Time I Marry

6.8

Next Time I Marry
1938-12-09

Spirit of Youth

5.5

Spirit of Youth
1938-04-01

Two-Gun Man from Harlem

4.5

Two-Gun Man from Harlem
1938-05-01

Mr. Washington Goes to Town

3

Mr. Washington Goes to Town
1942-05-09

5.8

Irish Luck
1939-08-22

6.1

Pin Up Girl
1944-04-25

0

Sarong Girl
1943-06-11

Let's Go Collegiate

5

Let's Go Collegiate
1941-09-12

Riverboat Rhythm

5

Riverboat Rhythm
1946-02-16

Andy Hardy's Double Life

4.6

Andy Hardy's Double Life
1942-12-01

Dressed to Kill

6.386

Dressed to Kill
1941-08-08

Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery

5.3

Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery
1941-03-24

Captain Tugboat Annie

0

Captain Tugboat Annie
1945-11-17

Rockin' the Blues

0

Rockin' the Blues
1956-10-11

4

Enter Laughing
1967-02-25

Chip Off the Old Block

4

Chip Off the Old Block
1944-02-01

Harlem on the Prairie

5

Harlem on the Prairie
1937-12-09

Up Jumped the Devil

0

Up Jumped the Devil
1941-01-01

Professor Creeps

0

Professor Creeps
1942-02-28

Return of Mandy's Husband

0

Return of Mandy's Husband
1947-05-22

6.5

Girl Trouble
1942-10-09

5.3

Tell No Tales
1939-06-12

Law of the Jungle

5.1

Law of the Jungle
1942-02-06

Riders of the Frontier

0

Riders of the Frontier
1939-08-15

Moon Over Las Vegas

0

Moon Over Las Vegas
1944-04-01

Chasing Trouble

5

Chasing Trouble
1940-01-30

Come On, Cowboy!

0

Come On, Cowboy!
1949-01-01

Millionaire Playboy

2.7

Millionaire Playboy
1940-03-14

The Man Who Wouldn't Talk

4

The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
1940-01-11

5.5

Viva Cisco Kid
1940-04-12

Treat 'Em Rough

6

Treat 'Em Rough
1942-01-30

4.7

Star Dust
1940-04-06

The Green Pastures

6.3

The Green Pastures
1936-08-01

Laughing at Danger

0

Laughing at Danger
1940-08-12

Drums of the Desert

5.5

Drums of the Desert
1940-10-06

0

Four Shall Die
1940-10-15

He Hired the Boss

3

He Hired the Boss
1943-04-02

A-Haunting We Will Go

6

A-Haunting We Will Go
1942-08-07

Mantan Runs for Mayor

0

Mantan Runs for Mayor
1946-08-23

0

The Dreamer
1948-04-04

0

Ebony Parade

She's Too Mean for Me

0

She's Too Mean for Me
1948-08-23

0

What a Guy
1948-01-01

5.6

Girl in 313
1940-05-31

6.2

Maryland
1940-07-19

5.2

City of Chance
1940-01-13

7.7

Sky Dragon
1949-04-27

0

Gang Smashers
1938-12-30

0

Cracked Nuts
1941-07-02

Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost

4.4

Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost
1942-06-26

Slightly Dangerous

5.8

Slightly Dangerous
1943-04-01

Bowery to Broadway

0

Bowery to Broadway
1944-11-03

You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith

3.5

You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith
1943-10-22

0

South of Dixie
1944-06-23

We've Never Been Licked

0

We've Never Been Licked
1943-07-29

5.9

Hit the Ice
1943-06-02

That's the Spirit

2

That's the Spirit
1933-04-15

Tall, Tan and Terrific

0

Tall, Tan and Terrific
1946-06-26

See Here, Private Hargrove

6

See Here, Private Hargrove
1944-03-18

5

Swing Fever
1943-11-01

6.2

The Patsy
1964-06-24

The Young Nurses

4.167

The Young Nurses
1973-03-01

Marry the Boss's Daughter

0

Marry the Boss's Daughter
1941-11-28

0

One Dark Night
1939-01-02

While Thousands Cheer

0

While Thousands Cheer
1940-09-15

5.9

The Comic
1969-11-19

The Bill Cosby Show

5.219

The Bill Cosby Show
1969-09-14

6

Julia
1968-09-17

7.1

Adam-12
1968-09-21

Love, American Style

6

Love, American Style
1969-09-29