Waldo Salt

Waldo Miller Salt (October 18, 1914 – March 7, 1987) was an American screenwriter. He wrote the Academy Award-winning screenplays for Midnight Cowboy and Coming Home (1978).

Early life and career Salt was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Winifred May (née Porter) and William H. Salt, a playwright and artist. Waldo graduated from Stanford University in 1934. He was hired as a junior writer for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. On April 13, 1951, in his testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, Salt invoked the Fifth Amendment rather than answer whether he was a member of the Communist Party. Although he could no longer work openly in film or television, he was still able like other blacklisted writers to earn money by writing under a pseudonym, which he did for the British TV series The Adventures of Robin Hood.

After the blacklist ended, Salt won Academy Awards for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for his work on Midnight Cowboy and Coming Home respectively, as well as earning a nomination for the former for Serpico.

Salt is featured in the extras for the Criterion Collection's Midnight Cowboy Blu-ray disc release, specifically in an audio interview with Michael Childers; many photos of Salt can be seen here as he was a collaborator for the screenplay. The documentary listed below, Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter's Journey, is also featured on the disc.

Personal life Salt was married four times. The first was to Ambur Dana, who later married Nat Hiken, then to actress Mary Davenport (married in 1942) with whom he had two children, actress/writer/producer Jennifer, and Deborah; both marriages ended in divorce. After his divorce from Davenport, he married Gladys Schwartz in 1969, and they remained together until her death in 1981. He was married to playwright Eve Merriam from 1983 until his death at age 72 in Los Angeles on March 7, 1987.

He joined the Communist Party USA in 1938 (or 1939 ) and left in 1955.

Filmography

Awards and nominations