Mantan Moreland | |
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1941 film King of the Zombies |
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Born | Monroe, Louisiana, U.S. |
September 3, 1902
Died | September 28, 1973 Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
(aged 71)
Resting place | Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery |
Other names | Man Tan Moreland Manton Moreland Moreland |
Occupation | Actor, comedian |
Years active | 1933-1973 |
Spouse | Hazel Moreland (1 child) |
Mantan Moreland (September 3, 1902 - September 28, 1973) was an American actor and comedian most popular in the 1930s and 1940s.[1]
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Born in Monroe, Louisiana, Moreland began acting by the time he was an adolescent, reportedly running away to join the circus.[citation needed] By the late 1920s, he had made his way through vaudeville, working with various shows and revues, performing on Broadway and touring Europe. Initially, Moreland appeared in low-budget "race movies" aimed at African-American audiences, but as his comedic talents came to be recognized, he received roles in larger productions.
Monogram Pictures signed Moreland to appear opposite Frankie Darro in the studio's popular action pictures. Moreland, with his bulging eyes and cackling laugh, quickly became a favorite supporting player in Hollywood movies. He is perhaps best known for his role as chauffeur Birmingham Brown in Monogram's Charlie Chan series. At the height of his career, Moreland received steady work from major film studios, as well as from independent producers who starred Moreland in low-budget, all-black-cast comedies.
Moreland also toured America in vaudeville, making personal appearances in the nation's movie theaters. His straight man was Ben Carter, and they developed an excellent rapport and impeccable timing.[says who?] Their "incomplete sentence" routines can be seen in two Charlie Chan pictures, The Scarlet Clue and Dark Alibi.
Moreland was offered fewer roles in the 1950s, when filmmakers began to reassess roles given to black actors.[citation needed] He was briefly considered as a possible addition to the Three Stooges when Shemp Howard died in 1955.[2] Moreland returned to the stage and appeared in two all-black variety films in 1955, with Nipsey Russell standing in for Ben Carter as his straight man.
Moreland's last featured role was in the 1968 darkly humorous horror film Spider Baby, which was patterned after Universal's thrillers of the 1940s. After suffering a stroke in the early 1960s, Moreland took on a few minor comedic roles, working with the likes of Bill Cosby, Moms Mabley and Carl Reiner.
Moreland died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1973 in Hollywood.[3]
Television | |||
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Year | Title | Role | Notes |
1957 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | 1 episode | |
1969 | Julia | Henry James | 1 episode |
1970 | The Bill Cosby Show | Uncle Dewey | 1 episode |
Adam-12 | Philip Richards | 1 episode |
The lyrics of The Coasters' 1963 song "Bad Detective" are sung from the first-person perspective of Birmingham Brown, Mantan Moreland's character in the Charlie Chan movie series.
On the Beastie Boys album Ill Communication, a Moreland sample from That Ain't My Finger was used in the song "B-Boys makin' with the Freak Freak". The sample was "Shit, if this is gonna be that kind of party, I'm gonna stick my dick in the mashed potatoes", which is the punchline to a joke about a French girl's misunderstanding of a certain obscene word. [4]
Robert B. Parker makes an allusion to Moreland in Hush Money, one of his long running series of Spenser novels.[5]
In the Spike Lee film Bamboozled two characters recreate Moreland's "Incomplete Sentence" routine. Additionally, the fictional TV show which the plot spins around is called "Mantan: The New Millenium Minstrel Show".