Acting · Monroe, Louisiana, USA · Born September 3, 1902
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.
MovieThe Young Nurses
1973
as Old Man
MovieWatermelon Man
1970
as Joe the Counterman
MovieThe Comic
1969
as Passerby at Billy's Funeral (unbilled)
TVLove, American Style
1969
as Stranger
TVThe Bill Cosby Show
1969
as Uncle Dewey
TVAdam-12
1968
as Philip Richards
TVJulia
1968
as Harry James
MovieSpider Baby
1967
as Messenger
MovieEnter Laughing
1967
as Subway Rider
MovieThe Patsy
1964
as Barber Shop Porter
MovieRockin' the Blues
1956
as Self
MovieSky Dragon
1949
as Birmingham Brown
MovieCome On, Cowboy!
1949
as Mantan
MovieThe Feathered Serpent
1948
as Birmingham Brown
MovieThe Golden Eye
1948
as Birmingham Brown
MovieShe's Too Mean for Me
1948
MovieThe Shanghai Chest
1948
as Birmingham Brown
MovieThe Dreamer
1948
MovieDocks of New Orleans
1948
as Birmingham Brown
MovieWhat a Guy
1948
MovieThe Chinese Ring
1947
as Birmingham Brown
MovieReturn of Mandy's Husband
1947
as Mantan
MovieThe Trap
1946
as Birmingham Brown
MovieMantan Runs for Mayor
1946
MovieShadows Over Chinatown
1946
as Birmingham Brown
MovieTall, Tan and Terrific
1946
as Mantan Moreland
MovieDark Alibi
1946
as Birmingham Brown
MovieRiverboat Rhythm
1946
as Mantan
MovieMantan Messes Up
1946
as Mantan
MovieThe Spider
1945
as Harry
MovieShe Wouldn't Say Yes
1945
as Porter (uncredited)
MovieCaptain Tugboat Annie
1945
as Pinto
MovieThe Shanghai Cobra
1945
as Birmingham Brown
MovieThe Scarlet Clue
1945
as Birmingham Brown, Chauffeur
MovieThe Jade Mask
1945
as Birmingham Brown
MovieBowery to Broadway
1944
as Alabam
MovieBlack Magic
1944
as Birmingham Brown
MovieSouth of Dixie
1944
as The Porter
MovieThis Is the Life
1944
as Porter (uncredited)
MovieCharlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
1944
as Birmingham Brown, Taxi Driver
MoviePin Up Girl
1944
as Train Station Porter (uncredited)
MovieMoon Over Las Vegas
1944
as Porter
MovieSee Here, Private Hargrove
1944
as Train Porter (uncredited)
MovieCharlie Chan in the Secret Service
1944
as Birmingham Brown
MovieChip Off the Old Block
1944
as Porter
MovieSwing Fever
1943
as Woody
MovieYou're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith
1943
as Porter
MovieRevenge of the Zombies
1943
as Jefferson 'Jeff' Johnson
MovieMelody Parade
1943
as Skidmore
MovieWe've Never Been Licked
1943
as Willie
MovieSarong Girl
1943
as Maxwell
MovieHit the Ice
1943
as Porter with Snowshoes (uncredited)
MovieHe Hired the Boss
1943
as Bootblack
MovieSlightly Dangerous
1943
as Waiter at Swade's (uncredited)
MovieCabin in the Sky
1943
as First Idea Man
MovieCosmo Jones, Crime Smasher
1943
as Eustace Smith
MovieAndy Hardy's Double Life
1942
as Prentiss - The Benedict Butler (uncredited)
MovieEyes in the Night
1942
as Alistair
MovieGirl Trouble
1942
as Flint's Chauffeur
MoviePhantom Killer
1942
as Nicodemus
MovieA-Haunting We Will Go
1942
as Porter (uncredited)
MovieFootlight Serenade
1942
as Amos
MovieMexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost
1942
as Lightnin'
MovieMr. Washington Goes to Town
1942
as Schenectady Washington
MovieTarzan's New York Adventure
1942
as Sam, the Nightclub Janitor (uncredited)
MovieThe Strange Case of Doctor Rx
1942
as Horatio B.Fitz Washington
MovieProfessor Creeps
1942
as Washington
MovieLucky Ghost
1942
as Washington
MovieLaw of the Jungle
1942
as Jefferson "Jeff" Jones
Treat 'Em Rough
1942
as 'Snake-Eyes'
MovieFour Jacks and a Jill
1942
as Cicero - Wash Room Attendant (uncredited)
MovieFreckles Comes Home
1942
as Jeff the porter
Marry the Boss's Daughter
1941
as Diner Cook
MovieBirth of the Blues
1941
as Black Trumpet Player (uncredited)
MovieIt Started with Eve
1941
as Railway Porter (uncredited)
MovieLet's Go Collegiate
1941
as Jeff
MovieDressed to Kill
1941
as Rusty
MovieCracked Nuts
1941
as Burgess
MovieThe Gang's All Here
1941
as Jefferson 'Jeff' Smith
MovieKing of the Zombies
1941
as Jefferson 'Jeff' Jackson
MovieSign of the Wolf
1941
as Ben
MovieEllery Queen's Penthouse Mystery
1941
as Roy
MovieSleepers West
1941
as Porter (uncredited)
MovieYou're Out of Luck
1941
as Jeff Jefferson
MovieUp Jumped the Devil
1941
as Washington
MovieFour Shall Die
1940
as Beefus - Touissant's Chauffeur
MovieDrums of the Desert
1940
as Sergeant 'Blue' Williams
MovieWhile Thousands Cheer
1940
as Nash
MovieUp in the Air
1940
as Jeff Jefferson
MovieLaughing at Danger
1940
as Jefferson
MovieMaryland
1940
MovieOn the Spot
1940
as Jefferson White
MovieGirl in 313
1940
as Porter
MovieViva Cisco Kid
1940
as Memphis - The Cook
MovieStar Dust
1940
as Waiter on Train
MovieMillionaire Playboy
1940
as Bellhop
MovieChasing Trouble
1940
as Thomas H. Jefferson
MovieCity of Chance
1940
as Anxious Man
MovieThe Man Who Wouldn't Talk
1940
as Robbins
MovieIrish Luck
1939
as Jefferson
MovieRiders of the Frontier
1939
as Chappie, the Cook
MovieTell No Tales
1939
as Sport Black at the Wake (uncredited)
MovieOne Dark Night
1939
as Samson Brown
Gang Smashers
1938
as Gloomy
MovieNext Time I Marry
1938
as Tilby
MovieFrontier Scout
1938
as Norris Family Butler
MovieTwo-Gun Man from Harlem
1938
as Bill Blake
MovieSpirit of Youth
1938
as Creighton 'Crickie' Fitzgibbons
MovieHarlem on the Prairie
1937
as Mistletoe
MovieThe Green Pastures
1936
as Angel Removing Hat (uncredited)
MovieThat's the Spirit
1933
as Night Watchman
MovieEbony Parade
as Mantan
