I'd like to alert folks to a book called "Mantan the Funnyman" by Michael H. Price and published by Midnight Marquee Press. As far as I can tell, it's the first biography on Moreland and I read it in two sittings. The author conducted extensive interviews with Moreland's daughter Marcella, and with Frankie Darro and Melvin van Peebles. There is also a CD included that features some radio performances and even some cuts from Moreland's late 60's "adult" comedy albums.
The one drawback is that I ordered the book last August and it didn't arrive until about four weeks ago. Still worth a looksee...
Thank you for sharing this information. As Mantan Moreland played such an important part in the Monogram portion of the Charlie Chan series, I think that such a book could be considered as something approaching "must read" status for fans of the detective. Is there much specific information relating to the Chan movies? Anecdotes, etc.?
Yes, the Chan films are given a separate chapter aside from Mantan's other pictures. His daughter Marcella (who was a child actress briefly) relates some anecdotes about the Monogram years. And some decent photos, too.
