FOUND A GRAVE

Born in Monroe, Louisiana, to Frank, an old-time Dixie band leader, and Marcella, Mantan Moreland began acting by the time he was an adolescent, running away to join a minstrel show in 1910. 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, Mantan 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. 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. He was briefly considered as a possible addition to the Three Stooges when Shemp Howard died in 1955. 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.