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 others mind (i.e., Say, did you see...? Saw him just yesterday...didnt look so good). Mantans 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 couldnt 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.Morelands 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.

Filmler ulaşılamıyor Mantan Moreland

It Started with Eve

Railway Porter (uncredited)

Film 1941

Spider Baby

Messenger

Film 1967

Watermelon Man

Joe the Counterman

Film 1970

Footlight Serenade

Amos

Film 1942

The Spider

Harry

Film 1945

Charlie Chan in the Secret Service

Birmingham Brown

Film 1944

Black Magic

Birmingham Brown

Film 1944

Charlie Chan in The Jade Mask

Birmingham Brown

Film 1945

Shadows Over Chinatown

Birmingham Brown

Film 1946

Dark Alibi

Birmingham Brown

Film 1946

The Trap

Birmingham Brown

Film 1946

Sleepers West

Porter (uncredited)

Film 1941

Docks of New Orleans

Birmingham Brown

Film 1948

The Chinese Ring

Birmingham Brown

Film 1947

The Feathered Serpent

Birmingham Brown

Film 1948

Eyes in the Night

Alistair

Film 1942

The Golden Eye

Birmingham Brown

Film 1948

The Strange Case of Doctor Rx

Horatio B.Fitz Washington

Film 1942

Lucky Ghost

Washington

Film 1942

Tarzan's New York Adventure

Sam, the Nightclub Janitor (uncredited)

Film 1942

Up in the Air

Jeff Jefferson

Film 1940

Birth of the Blues

Black Trumpet Player (uncredited)

Film 1941

She Wouldn't Say Yes

Porter (uncredited)

Film 1945

On the Spot

Jefferson White

Film 1940

Frontier Scout

Norris Family Butler

Film 1938

Phantom Killer

Nicodemus

Film 1942

Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher

Eustace Smith

Film 1943

Melody Parade

Skidmore

Film 1943

Swing Fever

Woody

Film 1943

Freckles Comes Home

Jeff the porter

Film 1942

The Gang's All Here

Jefferson 'Jeff' Smith

Film 1941

Mantan Messes Up

Film 1946

You're Out of Luck

Jeff Jefferson

Film 1941

Four Jacks and a Jill

Cicero - Wash Room Attendant (uncredited)

Film 1942

Next Time I Marry

Tilby

Film 1938

Spirit of Youth

Creighton 'Crickie' Fitzgibbons

Film 1938

Two-Gun Man from Harlem

Bill Blake

Film 1938

Mr. Washington Goes to Town

Schenectady Jones

Film 1942

Pin Up Girl

Train Station Porter (uncredited)

Film 1944

Sarong Girl

Maxwell

Film 1943

Let's Go Collegiate

Jeff

Film 1941

Riverboat Rhythm

Mantan

Film 1946

Andy Hardy's Double Life

Prentiss - The Benedict Butler (uncredited)

Film 1942

Dressed to Kill

Rusty

Film 1941

Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery

Roy

Film 1941

Captain Tugboat Annie

Pinto

Film 1945

Rockin' the Blues

Self

Film 1956

Enter Laughing

Subway Rider

Film 1967

Harlem on the Prairie

Mistletoe

Film 1937

Up Jumped the Devil

Washington

Film 1941

Professor Creeps

Washington

Film 1942

Return of Mandy's Husband

Mantan

Film 1947

Girl Trouble

Flint's Chauffeur

Film 1942

Tell No Tales

Sport Black at the Wake (uncredited)

Film 1939

Law of the Jungle

Jefferson "Jeff" Jones

Film 1942

Riders of the Frontier

Chappie, the Cook

Film 1939

Moon Over Las Vegas

Porter

Film 1944

Chasing Trouble

Thomas H. Jefferson

Film 1940

Come On, Cowboy!

Mantan

Film 1949

Millionaire Playboy

Bellhop

Film 1940

The Man Who Wouldn't Talk

Robbins

Film 1940

Viva Cisco Kid

Memphis - The Cook

Film 1940

Treat 'Em Rough

'Snake-Eyes'

Film 1942

Star Dust

Waiter on Train

Film 1940

The Green Pastures

Angel Removing Hat (uncredited)

Film 1936

Laughing at Danger

Jefferson

Film 1940

Drums of the Desert

Sergeant 'Blue' Williams

Film 1940

Four Shall Die

Beefus - Touissant's Chauffeur

Film 1940

He Hired the Boss

Bootblack

Film 1943

A-Haunting We Will Go

Porter (uncredited)

Film 1942

Mantan Runs for Mayor

Film 1946

The Dreamer

Film 1948

Ebony Parade

Mantan

Film

She's Too Mean for Me

Film 1948

What a Guy

Film 1948

Girl in 313

Porter

Film 1940

Maryland

Film 1940

City of Chance

Anxious Man

Film 1940

Sky Dragon

Birmingham Brown

Film 1949

Gang Smashers

Gloomy

Film 1938

Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost

Lightnin'

Film 1942

Slightly Dangerous

Waiter at Swade's (uncredited)

Film 1943

You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith

Porter

Film 1943

South of Dixie

The Porter

Film 1944

We've Never Been Licked

Willie

Film 1943

Hit the Ice

Porter with Snowshoes (uncredited)

Film 1943

That's the Spirit

Night Watchman

Film 1933

Tall, Tan and Terrific

Mantan Moreland

Film 1946

See Here, Private Hargrove

Train Porter (uncredited)

Film 1944

Swing Fever

Woody, Nick's Valet (uncredited)

Film 1943

The Young Nurses

Old Man

Film 1973

Marry the Boss's Daughter

Diner Cook

Film 1941

One Dark Night

Samson Brown

Film 1939

While Thousands Cheer

Nash

Film 1940

TV dizisi ulaşılamıyor Mantan Moreland

The Bill Cosby Show

Uncle Dewey

Tv 1969

Julia

Harry James

Tv 1968

Adam-12

Philip Richards

Tv 1968