MANTAN MORELAND BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Mantan Moreland was born on Wednesday, September 03, 1902 in Monroe, Louisiana.  Moreland, who was African American joined a carnival at the age of 14. Many of his early adult years were spent in this carnival known as, the "Chitlin Circuit," the nickname given by performers to all-black vaudeville. and a medicine show a year later - and both times was dragged home by juvenile authorities.
 
By the 1920’s Moreland was already working various shows and performing on Broadway as well as touring Europe. In the beginning Moreland appeared in low-budget “race-movies” which were produced for black audience members featuring all black casts.

Beginning in the 1930's, Mantan played insignificant  roles in films from the big studios such as, "The Green Pastures" (1936), "The Palm Beach Story" in (1942) and in MGM’s "Cabin in The Sky" (1943). However his niche came in roles in such films as, "Spirit Of Youth" (1938), "One Dark Night" (1939), "Gang Smashers" (1938) and "Lucky Ghost" (1942) which were all films marketed to black audiences. 
 
It didn’t take long for Moreland with his signature cackle and his bulging eyes to become a favorite support actor in Hollywood. One of his most famous roles was along side Charlie Chan in, "Charlie’s Chauffeur". 
 
Moreland received all types of work, including major film studio productions as well as independent producers who cast him in low-budget all black comedies. Moreland also toured America in vaudeville, making live appearances in nation’s movie houses. His costar was Ben Carter, who he had quite the chemistry with.  Their timing was impeccable and were probably most notable for their “incomplete sentence” routines.  However, improvisation was really Mantan Moreland’s long suit.
 
At one point in his career he was considered a possible role on The Three Stooges.  Nothing ever came of this consideration. This was revealed in the 2007 biography of “Moreland, Mantan the Funnyman” written by Michael H. Price. Changing racial attitudes in the '50's and '60's was credited for Moreland's lossing ability to work in films.  Due to the Civil Rights Movement, even a frightened black man was no longer considered amusing. Virtually broke, Moreland suffered a severe stroke in the early '60s and for a period of about ten years, he was without work.  Things improved for Moreland after 1964, with roles in "Waiting For Godot", "The Patsy" (1964), "Entering Laughing" (1967) and a movie considered a cult movie, and his last "Spider baby" 1964 a dark comedy.
 
His career highlights are said to be his roles in, "The Watermelon Man" (1970), "The Chinese Cat" and "Charlie Chan in the Secret Service".
 
Moreland died of cerebral hemorrhaging on Friday, September 28, 1973 in his home in Hollywood.  He was buried in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery. Today he is  remembered 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.

Filmography
 
1933 That's the Spirit
1936 The Green Pastures
1937 Harlem on the Prairie
1937 Shall We Dance
1937 The Green Pastures 
1938 Two-Gun Man from Harlem
1938 Gang Smashers
1938 Next Time I Marry 
1938 Frontier Scout
1938 Spirit of Youth
1939 One Dark Night
1939 Irish Luck
1939 Riders of the Frontier
1939 Tell No Tales
1939 There's That Woman Again
1939 One Dark Night
1940 Chasing Trouble
1940 Up in the Air
1940 Four Shall Die
1940 Drums of the Desert
1940 While Thousands Cheer 
1940 Pier 13
1940 Laughing at Danger
1940 Maryland
1940 On the Spot
1940 Girl in 313
1940 Viva Cisco Kid
1940 Star Dust
1940 Millionaire Playboy
1940 Chasing Trouble
1940 The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
1940 City of Chance 
1941 You're Out of Luck
1941 Marry the Boss's Daughter  
1941 Birth of the Blues 
1941 It Started with Eve 
1941 Let's Go Collegiate 
1941 World Premiere 
1941 Dressed to Kill 
1941 Accent on Love 
1941 The Gang's All Here  
1941 Bachelor Daddy 
1941 King of the Zombies 
1941 Sign of the Wolf 
1941 Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery 
1941 Footlight Fever 
1941 Sleepers West 
1941 You're Out of Luck 
1941 Cracked Nuts 
1941 Hello, Sucker
1941 Mr. Washington Goes to Town 
1941 Up Jumped the Devil 
1941 King of the Zombies
1941 Let's Go Collegiate
1942 Lucky Ghost
1942 The Palm Beach Story 
1942 Girl Trouble  
1942 Phantom Killer 
1942 A-Haunting We Will Go 
1942 Footlight Serenade 
1942 Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost 
1942 The Strange Case of Doctor Rx  
1942 Law of the Jungle 
1942 Treat 'Em Rough 
1942 Four Jacks and a Jill 
1942 Freckles Comes Home 
1942 Andy Hardy's Double Life 
1942 Professor Creeps 
1942 Tarzan's New York Adventure
1943 She's for Me 
1943 Swing Fever 
1943 My Kingdom for a Cook 
1943 You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith 
1943 Hi'ya, Sailor
1943 Revenge of the Zombies
1943 We've Never Been Licked
1943 Melody Parade
1943 Eyes in the Night
1943 Sarong Girl
1943 Hit the Ice
1943 Cabin in the Sky
1943 It Comes Up Love
1943 He Hired the Boss
1943 Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher
1943 Slightly Dangerous    
1944 Charlie Chan in the Secret Service
1944 Bowery to Broadway  
1944 The Mystery of the Riverboat  
1944 Black Magic       
1944 South of Dixie 
1944 This Is the Life
1944 Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat 
1944 Pin Up Girl
1944 Moon Over Las Vegas
1944 Chip Off the Old Block
1944 See Here, Private Hargrove
1945 The Scarlet Clue
1945 She Wouldn't Say Yes 
1945 Captain Tugboat Annie 
1945 The Shanghai Cobra  
1945 The Naughty Nineties
1945 The Scarlet Clue 
1945 The Jade Mask 
1945 The Spider 
1946 Riverboat Rhythm
1946 Mantan Messes Up
1946 Mantan Runs for Mayor
1946 Tall, Tan, and Terrific
1946 The Trap
1946 Shadows Over Chinatown
1946 Dark Alibi 
1947 Ebony Parade
1947 The Chinese Ring
1947 Ebony Parade
1948 The Feathered Serpent
1948 The Shanghai Chest 
1948 Best Man Wins 
1948 Docks of New Orleans 
1948 What a Guy  
1948 She's Too Mean for Me 
1948 The Dreamer 
1948 Come On, Cowboy! 
1948 The Return of Mandy's Husband
1948 The Golden Eye
1949 The Sky Dragon
1964 The Patsy
1966 Alvarez Kelly
1967 Enter Laughing
1968 Spider Baby
1970 Watermelon Man
1972 The Biscuit Eater
1973 The Young Nurses
1957 Hallmark Hall of Fame
1968 Spider Baby
1969 Julia
1969 The Comic

1970 The Bill Cosby Show
1971 Marriage: Year One