Mantan Moreland
- Atuação
- 3 de setembro de 1902 · Monroe, Louisiana, USA
- 28 de setembro de 1973
Biografia
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.
Conhecido por
Filmografia
- The Young Nurses · Old Man
- A Noite em Que o Sol Brilhou · Joe the Counterman
- Glória e Lágrimas de um Cômico · Passerby at Billy's Funeral (unbilled)
- O Jogo Perigoso do Amor · Stranger
- The Bill Cosby Show · Uncle Dewey
- Adam-12 · Philip Richards
- Julia · Harry James
- Spider Baby · Messenger
- Enter Laughing · Subway Rider
- O Otário · Barber Shop Porter
- Rockin' the Blues · Em pessoa
- O Voo da Morte · Birmingham Brown
- Come On, Cowboy! · Mantan
- Charlie Chan e o Tesoura Azteca · Birmingham Brown
- O Olho de Ouro · Birmingham Brown
- She's Too Mean for Me
- Crime Por Alfabeto · Birmingham Brown
- The Dreamer
- O Rádio da Morte · Birmingham Brown
- What a Guy
- O Anel Chinês · Birmingham Brown
- Return of Mandy's Husband · Mantan
- O Segredo da Caixa · Birmingham Brown
- Mantan Runs for Mayor
- Charlie Chan no Bairro Chinês · Birmingham Brown
- Tall, Tan and Terrific · Mantan Moreland
- Dark Alibi · Birmingham Brown
- Riverboat Rhythm · Mantan
- Mantan Messes Up · Mantan
- The Spider · Harry
- Chamam a Isto Amor · Porter (uncredited)
- Captain Tugboat Annie · Pinto
- A Cobra de Shanghai · Birmingham Brown
- O Mistério do Rádio · Birmingham Brown, Chauffeur
- A Máscara Verde · Birmingham Brown
- Bowery to Broadway · Alabam
- Charlie Chan na Macumba · Birmingham Brown
- South of Dixie · The Porter
- This Is the Life · Porter (uncredited)
- Charlie Chan em ''O Gato Chinês'' · Birmingham Brown, Taxi Driver
- A Preferida · Train Station Porter (uncredited)
- Moon Over Las Vegas · Porter
- See Here, Private Hargrove · Train Porter (uncredited)
- Charlie Chan no Serviço Secreto · Birmingham Brown
- Chip Off the Old Block · Porter
- Um Mundo de Ritmos · Woody, Woody, Nick's Valet (uncredited)
- You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith · Porter
- Revenge of the Zombies · Jefferson 'Jeff' Johnson
- Melody Parade · Skidmore
- Jamais Foram Vencidos · Willie
- Sarong Girl · Maxwell
- Pistoleiros Sem Pistola · Porter with Snowshoes (uncredited)
- He Hired the Boss · Bootblack
- Senhorita Ventania · Waiter at Swade's (uncredited)
- Um Lugar No Céu · First Idea Man
- Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher · Eustace Smith
- A Dupla Vida de Andy Hardy · Prentiss - The Benedict Butler (uncredited)
- Eyes in the Night · Alistair
- Girl Trouble · Flint's Chauffeur
- Phantom Killer · Nicodemus
- O Gordo e o Magro - Dois Fantasmas Vivos · Porter (uncredited)
- Footlight Serenade · Amos
- Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost · Lightnin'
- Mr. Washington Goes to Town · Schenectady Washington
- Tarzan Contra o Mundo · Sam, the Nightclub Janitor (uncredited)
- O Fatídico Caso do Doutor Rx · Horatio B.Fitz Washington
- Professor Creeps · Washington
- Lucky Ghost · Washington
- A Lei das Selvas · Jefferson "Jeff" Jones
- Treat 'Em Rough · 'Snake-Eyes'
- 4 Valetes e Uma Dama · Cicero - Wash Room Attendant (uncredited)
- Freckles Comes Home · Jeff the porter
- Marry the Boss's Daughter · Diner Cook
- Birth of the Blues · Black Trumpet Player (uncredited)
- It Started with Eve · Railway Porter (uncredited)
- Let's Go Collegiate · Jeff
- Ceia Fatal · Rusty
- Cracked Nuts · Burgess
- The Gang's All Here · Jefferson 'Jeff' Smith
- O Rei dos Zombies · Jefferson 'Jeff' Jackson