Mantan Moreland

Acting •1902-09-03 •Monroe, Louisiana, USA

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.

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代表作

陈查理之天龙

1949 · Birmingham Brown

美凤夺鸾

1941 · Railway Porter (uncredited)

Adam-12

1968 · Philip Richards

陈查理之午夜幽会

1944 · Birmingham Brown

1946 · Birmingham Brown

Girl Trouble

1942 · Flint's Chauffeur

月宫宝盒

1943 · First Idea Man

陈查理之中国猫

1944 · Birmingham Brown, Taxi Driver

黑皮肤的白人

1970 · Joe the Counterman

Sleepers West

1941 · Porter (uncredited)

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全部作品

妙龄护士

1973 •Old Man

黑皮肤的白人

1970 •Joe the Counterman

The Comic

1969 •Passerby at Billy's Funeral (unbilled)

The Bill Cosby Show

1969 •Uncle Dewey

Love, American Style

1969 •Stranger

Julia

1968 •Harry James

Adam-12

1968 •Philip Richards

蜘蛛宝宝，或你所听说过最疯狂的故事

1967 •Messenger

Enter Laughing

1967 •Subway Rider

一炮而红

1964 •Barber Shop Porter

展开全部作品

Rockin' the Blues

1956 •Self

Come On, Cowboy!

1949 •Mantan

陈查理之天龙

1949 •Birmingham Brown

陈查理之音波密室杀人案

1948 •Birmingham Brown

陈查理和羽蛇

1948 •Birmingham Brown

陈查理之上海宝箱

1948 •Birmingham Brown

The Golden Eye

1948 •Birmingham Brown

The Dreamer

1948

She's Too Mean for Me

1948

What a Guy

1948

陈查理之中国戒指

1947 •Birmingham Brown

Return of Mandy's Husband

1947 •Mantan

陈查理之唐人街上的阴影

1946 •Birmingham Brown

陷阱

1946 •Birmingham Brown

黑暗辩解

1946 •Birmingham Brown

Mantan Messes Up

1946

Riverboat Rhythm

1946 •Mantan

Mantan Runs for Mayor

1946

Tall, Tan and Terrific

1946 •Mantan Moreland

The Spider

1945 •Harry

华人侦探陈查理之上海眼镜蛇

1945 •Birmingham Brown

翡翠面具

1945 •Birmingham Brown

陈查理之猩红的线索

1945 •Birmingham Brown, Chauffeur

She Wouldn't Say Yes

1945 •Porter (uncredited)

Captain Tugboat Annie

1945 •Pinto

华人侦探陈查理之秘密服务

1944 •Birmingham Brown

陈查理之午夜幽会

1944 •Birmingham Brown

陈查理之中国猫

1944 •Birmingham Brown, Taxi Driver

海报女郎

1944 •Train Station Porter (uncredited)

Chip Off the Old Block

1944 •Porter

Moon Over Las Vegas

1944 •Porter

Bowery to Broadway

1944 •Alabam

South of Dixie

1944 •The Porter

See Here, Private Hargrove

1944 •Train Porter (uncredited)

月宫宝盒

1943 •First Idea Man

Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher

1943 •Eustace Smith

Melody Parade

1943 •Skidmore

Swing Fever

1943 •Woody

僵尸复仇

1943 •Jefferson 'Jeff' Johnson

Sarong Girl

1943 •Maxwell

He Hired the Boss

1943 •Bootblack

轻微冒险

1943 •Waiter at Swade's (uncredited)

You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith

1943 •Porter

We've Never Been Licked

1943 •Willie

雪阵逞英雄

1943 •Porter with Snowshoes (uncredited)

Swing Fever

1943 •Woody, Nick's Valet (uncredited)

Footlight Serenade

1942 •Amos

夜之眼

1942 •Alistair

白衣复仇者

1942 •Horatio B.Fitz Washington

Lucky Ghost

1942 •Washington

Tarzan's New York Adventure

1942 •Sam, the Nightclub Janitor (uncredited)

Phantom Killer

1942 •Nicodemus

Freckles Comes Home

1942 •Jeff the porter

Four Jacks and a Jill

1942 •Cicero - Wash Room Attendant (uncredited)

Mr. Washington Goes to Town

1942 •Schenectady Washington

Andy Hardy's Double Life

1942 •Prentiss - The Benedict Butler (uncredited)

Professor Creeps

1942 •Washington

Girl Trouble

1942 •Flint's Chauffeur

Law of the Jungle

1942 •Jefferson "Jeff" Jones

Treat 'Em Rough

1942 •'Snake-Eyes'

真假棺材板

1942 •Porter (uncredited)

Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost

1942 •Lightnin'

僵尸之王

1941 •Jefferson 'Jeff' Jackson

美凤夺鸾

1941 •Railway Porter (uncredited)

Sleepers West

1941 •Porter (uncredited)

Birth of the Blues

1941 •Black Trumpet Player (uncredited)

Sign of the Wolf

1941 •Ben

The Gang's All Here

1941 •Jefferson 'Jeff' Smith

You're Out of Luck

1941 •Jeff Jefferson

Let's Go Collegiate

1941 •Jeff

Dressed to Kill

1941 •Rusty

埃勒里·奎因的屋檐之谜

1941 •Roy

Up Jumped the Devil

1941 •Washington

Cracked Nuts

1941 •Burgess

Marry the Boss's Daughter

1941 •Diner Cook

Up in the Air

1940 •Jeff Jefferson

On the Spot

1940 •Jefferson White

Chasing Trouble

1940 •Thomas H. Jefferson

Millionaire Playboy

1940 •Bellhop

Viva Cisco Kid

1940 •Memphis - The Cook

The Man Who Wouldn't Talk

1940 •Robbins

Star Dust

1940 •Waiter on Train

Laughing at Danger

1940 •Jefferson

Drums of the Desert

1940 •Sergeant 'Blue' Williams

Four Shall Die

1940 •Beefus - Touissant's Chauffeur

Girl in 313

1940 •Porter

Maryland

1940

City of Chance

1940 •Anxious Man

While Thousands Cheer

1940 •Nash

Irish Luck

1939 •Jefferson

Tell No Tales

1939 •Sport Black at the Wake (uncredited)

Riders of the Frontier

1939 •Chappie, the Cook

One Dark Night

1939 •Samson Brown

Frontier Scout

1938 •Norris Family Butler

Next Time I Marry

1938 •Tilby

Spirit of Youth

1938 •Creighton 'Crickie' Fitzgibbons

Two-Gun Man from Harlem

1938 •Bill Blake

Gang Smashers

1938 •Gloomy

Harlem on the Prairie

1937 •Mistletoe

青草地上

1936 •Angel Removing Hat (uncredited)

That's the Spirit

1933 •Night Watchman

Ebony Parade

•Mantan