Mantan Moreland was an American actor and comedian most popular in the 1930s and 1940s.
12 Facts About Mantan Moreland
2.
Mantan Moreland was born in Monroe, Louisiana, to Frank, an old-time Dixieland bandleader, and Marcella.
3.
Mantan Moreland next worked in the musical revue Blackbirds of 1928, which ran for 518 performances.
4.
At the height of his career, Mantan Moreland received steady work from major film studios, as well as from independent producers who starred Mantan Moreland in low-budget, all-African American-cast comedies.
5.
Monogram Pictures signed Mantan Moreland to appear opposite Frankie Darro in the studio's popular action pictures.
6.
Mantan Moreland is perhaps best known for his role as chauffeur Birmingham Brown in Monogram's Charlie Chan series.
7.
Mantan's biographer, Michael Price, states Moreland was briefly considered as a possible addition to the Three Stooges.
8.
Mantan Moreland was reported to be enthusiastic about the offer, but Columbia Pictures insisted on a comedian already under contract.
9.
Mantan Moreland's last featured role was in the darkly humorous horror film Spider Baby, which was patterned after Universal's thrillers of the 1940s.
10.
Mantan Moreland later partnered with Roosevelt Livingood to form the comedic team of Mantan and Livingood, which produced a number of recorded albums.
11.
Mantan Moreland died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1973 in Hollywood, and is interred at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
12.
In 2004, Mantan Moreland was inducted into the National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum Hall of Fame.