Waldo Miller Salt was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 screenwriter

Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

 who was blacklisted

Hollywood blacklist

The Hollywood blacklist—as the broader entertainment industry blacklist is generally known—was the mid-twentieth-century list of screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other U.S. entertainment professionals who were denied employment in the field because of their political beliefs or...

 by the Hollywood movie studio

Movie studio

A movie studio is a term used to describe a major entertainment company or production company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to film movies...

 bosses during the era of McCarthyism

McCarthyism

McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...

.

Early life and career

Salt was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Winifred (née Porter) and William Haslem Salt, an artist and business executive. He graduated from Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

 at age eighteen. The first of his nineteen films he wrote or in which he participated in the writing, was released in 1937 with the title The Bride Wore Red

The Bride Wore Red

The Bride Wore Red is a 1937 motion picture, directed by Dorothy Arzner, and starring Joan Crawford, Franchot Tone, Robert Young and Billie Burke. It was based on the unproduced play The Bride from Trieste by Ferenc Molnár. In this "rags to riches" tale, Crawford plays a cabaret singer who poses as...

. He joined the American Communist Party

Communist Party USA

The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....

 in 1938, and was a civilian consultant to the U.S. Office of War Information

United States Office of War Information

The United States Office of War Information was a U.S. government agency created during World War II to consolidate government information services. It operated from June 1942 until September 1945...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Salt's career in Hollywood was interrupted when he was blacklisted after refusing to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1951. Like many other blacklisted writers, while he was unable to work in Hollywood Salt wrote pseudonymously for the British television series The Adventures of Robin Hood

The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV series)

The Adventures of Robin Hood is a popular British television series comprising 143 half-hour, black and white episodes. It starred Richard Greene as the outlaw Robin Hood and Alan Wheatley as his nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham. The show aired weekly between 1955 and 1959 on ITV in London in the...

. After the collapse of the blacklist, Salt won Academy Awards

Academy Awards

An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

 for Midnight Cowboy

Midnight Cowboy

Midnight Cowboy is a 1969 American drama film based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. It was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and newcomer Jon Voight in the title role. Notable smaller roles are filled by Sylvia Miles, John...

 and Coming Home, and a nomination for his work on Serpico

Serpico

Serpico is a 1973 American crime film directed by Sidney Lumet. It is based on the true story of New York City policeman Frank Serpico, who went undercover to expose the corruption of his fellow officers, after being pushed to the brink at first by their distrust and later by the threats and...

.

Personal life and death

Salt was married three times, first to actress Mary Davenport with whom he had two children, actress/writer/producer Jennifer

Jennifer Salt

Jennifer Salt is an American producer, screenwriter, and former actress.-Life and career:Salt was born in Los Angeles, California. Her parents were screenwriter Waldo Salt and actress Mary Davenport; her stepmother was the writer Eve Merriam...

, and Deborah. After his divorce from Davenport, he married Gladys Schwartz and later playwright

Playwright

A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

 Eve Merriam

Eve Merriam

-Writing career:Merriam's first book was the 1946 Family Circle, which won the Yale Younger Poets Prize.Her book, The Inner City Mother Goose, was described as one of the most banned books of the time. It inspired a 1971 Broadway musical called Inner City and a 1982 musical production called Street...

. He remained married to Merriam until his death in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, aged 72, on March 7, 1987.

Documentary

Waldo Salt was the subject of a 1990 documentary Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter's Journey, which featured interviews with Dustin Hoffman

Dustin Hoffman

Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....

, Robert Redford

Robert Redford

Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...

, Jon Voight

Jon Voight

Jonathan Vincent "Jon" Voight is an American actor. He has received an Academy Award, out of four nominations, and three Golden Globe Awards, out of nine nominations. Voight is the father of actress Angelina Jolie....

, John Schlesinger

John Schlesinger

John Richard Schlesinger, CBE was an English film and stage director and actor.-Early life:Schlesinger was born in London into a middle-class Jewish family, the son of Winifred Henrietta and Bernard Edward Schlesinger, a physician...

 and other collaborators and friends.

The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award

The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, first presented in 1992, is awarded at the Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...

 annually. It is determined by the dramatic jury, and recognizes outstanding screenwriting in a film screened at the festival that year. See List of Sundance Film Festival award winners for a list of winners.

Filmography

Films
Year	Title	Notes
1937	The Bride Wore Red The Bride Wore Red The Bride Wore Red is a 1937 motion picture, directed by Dorothy Arzner, and starring Joan Crawford, Franchot Tone, Robert Young and Billie Burke. It was based on the unproduced play The Bride from Trieste by Ferenc Molnár. In this "rags to riches" tale, Crawford plays a cabaret singer who poses as...	Adaptation, uncredited
1938	The Shopworn Angel The Shopworn Angel The Shopworn Angel is a 1938 American drama film directed by H.C. Potter. The MGM release featured the second screen pairing of Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart following their successful teaming in the Universal Pictures production Next Time We Love two years earlier...	Screenplay
1939	The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939 film) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a 1939 film adaptation of Mark Twain's classic novel of the same name, starring Mickey Rooney in the title role.-Cast:*Mickey Rooney as Huckleberry Finn*Walter Connolly as the 'King'*William Frawley as the 'Duke'...	Dialogue, uncredited
1940	The Philadelphia Story	Uncredited
1941	The Wild Man of Borneo	Screenplay
1943	Tonight We Raid Calais
1944	Mr. Winkle Goes to War Mr. Winkle Goes to War Mr. Winkle Goes to War is a 1944 war comedy film starring Edward G. Robinson and Ruth Warrick, based on a novel by Theodore Pratt.-Plot:On June 1, 1942, after fourteen years, mild-mannered 44-year-old Wilbert G. Winkle quits his boring bank job to follow his dream, to open a repair shop...	Alternative title: Arms and the Woman
1948	Rachel and the Stranger Rachel and the Stranger Rachel and the Stranger was a black-and-white 1948 western film starring Loretta Young, William Holden, and Robert Mitchum. The Norman Foster-helmed film was one of the few to address the role of women in the pioneer west, as well as portray early America's indentured servant trade...	Screenplay
1950	The Flame and the Arrow The Flame and the Arrow The Flame and the Arrow is a 1950 American adventure film made by Warner Bros. and starring Burt Lancaster, Virginia Mayo and Nick Cravat. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Harold Hecht and Frank Ross from a screenplay by Waldo Salt. The music score was by Max Steiner and the...
1951	M M (1951 film) M is a 1951 American remake of Fritz Lang's film of the same name, shifting the action from Berlin to Los Angeles and changing the killer's name from Hans Beckert to Martin W. Harrow. The remake, directed by Joseph Losey with David Wayne playing Peter Lorre's role, was not well received by critics...	Additional dialogue
1961	Blast of Silence Blast of Silence Blast of Silence is an American crime/thriller film released in 1961. It was written and directed by Allen Baron and produced by Merrill Brody who was also the cinematographer.-Characters and story:...	Narration written by, credited as Mel Davenport
1962	Taras Bulba
1964	Flight from Ashiya Flight from Ashiya Flight from Ashiya is a 1964 film about the U.S. Air Force's Air Rescue Service, flying out of Ashiya Air Base, Japan. In this fictionalized film set in the early 1960s, a flight crew's mission is to rescue a liferaft of Japanese civilians stranded in rough seas.- Plot :The movie centers on three...	Alternative title: Ashiya kara no hiko
	Wild and Wonderful
1969	Midnight Cowboy Midnight Cowboy Midnight Cowboy is a 1969 American drama film based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. It was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and newcomer Jon Voight in the title role. Notable smaller roles are filled by Sylvia Miles, John...	Screenplay
1971	The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight is a 1969 novel written by Jimmy Breslin and a film of the same name based on the book and released in 1971 starring Robert De Niro. The novel is a roman à clef of the life of Joey Gallo whose fictional counterpart, Kid Sally Palumbo, is played by Jerry Orbach...	Alternative title: The Gang That Couldn't Shoot
1973	Serpico Serpico Serpico is a 1973 American crime film directed by Sidney Lumet. It is based on the true story of New York City policeman Frank Serpico, who went undercover to expose the corruption of his fellow officers, after being pushed to the brink at first by their distrust and later by the threats and...	Screenplay
1975	The Day of the Locust The Day of the Locust (film) The Day of the Locust is a 1975 American drama film directed by John Schlesinger. The screenplay by Waldo Salt is based on the 1939 novel of the same title by Nathanael West...	Screenplay
1978	Coming Home
Television
Year	Title	Notes
1955	Star Stage	1 episode
1956	Colonel March of Scotland Yard	2 episodes
1958	Swiss Family Robinson	Television movie, credited as Mel Davenport
	Ivanhoe Ivanhoe (1958 TV series) Ivanhoe is a British television series first shown on ITV in 1958-59. It featured Roger Moore, in his first starring role, as Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, in a series of adventures aimed at a children's audience...	4 episodes
1961	Tallahassee 7000	1 episode
1964	Espionage Espionage (TV series) Espionage is a 1963 Associated TeleVision series, distributed outside the UK by ITC Entertainment and networked in the United States by NBC.-Synopsis:...	1 episode
1965	The Nurses The Nurses The Nurses is a soap opera that aired on ABC from September 27, 1965 to March 31, 1967. The show was a continuation of a serialized primetime drama which aired on CBS originally called The Nurses when it premiered in 1962, later called The Doctors and the Nurses.The setting was Alden General...	1 episode
1967	Coronet Blue Coronet Blue Coronet Blue is an American TV series that ran on CBS from May 29, 1967, to September 4, 1967.It starred Frank Converse as Michael Alden, an amnesiac in search of his identity. Brian Bedford costarred...	1 episode

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Result	Category	Film or series
1949	Writers Guild of America Award Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...	Nominated	Best Written American Western	Rachel and the Stranger
1970		Won	Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium	Midnight Cowboy
1974			Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium	Serpico (Shared with Norman Wexler Norman Wexler Norman Wexler was a screenwriter whose work included such films as Saturday Night Fever, Serpico and Joe, for which he received an Oscar nomination in 1971... )
1979			Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen	Coming Home (Shared with Robert C. Jones Robert C. Jones Robert C. Jones , sometimes credited as Robert Jones, is a screenwriter and film editor. He received an Academy Award for the screenplay of the film Coming Home . As an editor, Jones has had notable collaborations with the directors Arthur Hiller and Hal Ashby... )
1986			Laurel Award for Screen Writing Achievement	-
1970	Academy Award	Won	Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. It is awarded each year to the writer of a screenplay adapted from another source...	Midnight Cowboy
1974		Nominated	Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium	Serpico (Shared with Norman Wexler Norman Wexler Norman Wexler was a screenwriter whose work included such films as Saturday Night Fever, Serpico and Joe, for which he received an Oscar nomination in 1971... )
1979		Won	Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen	Coming Home (Shared with Nancy Dowd and Robert C. Jones)
1970	BAFTA Award British Academy of Film and Television Arts The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...	Won	Best Screenplay BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award for Best Adapted Screenplay has been presented to its winners since 1968:-1980s:1983: Heat and Dust – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala*Betrayal – Harold Pinter...	Midnight Cowboy
1974	Edgar Allan Poe Awards Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...	Nominated	Serpico (Shared with Norman Wexler Norman Wexler Norman Wexler was a screenwriter whose work included such films as Saturday Night Fever, Serpico and Joe, for which he received an Oscar nomination in 1971... )
1970	Golden Globe Award Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...	Nominated	Best Screenplay Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay The Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture is one of the annual awards given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association."†" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "‡" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "§" indicates a Golden Globe Award...	Midnight Cowboy
1979			Best Screenplay - Motion Picture	Coming Home (Shared with Robert C. Jones)

External links

• Waldo Salt from the American Masters
  American Masters
  American Masters is a PBS television show which produces biographies on the artists, actors and writers of the United States who have left a profound impact on the nation's popular culture. It is produced by WNET in New York City...
  
   website
• Waldo Salt Papers, an inventory of papers kept in the UCLA
  University of California, Los Angeles
  The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
  
   Library