Waldo Salt
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
The Sundance Film Festival annual screenwriting award is named in his honor.
Regarding the Hollywood Blacklist: "We suffered from it, and the country did. The American people have to pay for these little gang wars between politicians who are fighting over how much graft they're going to get."-- Waldo Salt, to the authors of "Contemporary Theatre, Film & Television", Volume 6
Biography
Although his name recognition was not as great as the Hollywood Ten's Dalton Trumbo and Ring Lardner Jr., Waldo Salt took the same unpopular stand of conscience as they, refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee. The former drama teacher had received his first credit as a screenwriter for "The Shopworn Girl" (1938), reportedly worked uncredited on "The Philadelphia Story" (1940) and adapted "The Wild Man of Borneo" (1941) from a play by Marc Connelly and Herman Mankiewicz, among his projects, before World War II interrupted his career. Returning from overseas, he scripted "Rachel and the Stranger" (1948) and "The Flame and the Arrow" (1950), but the Hollywood blacklist would lock him out, stealing a decade from his working life. His next credit as Waldo Salt came for "Taras Bulba" (1962), adapted with Karl Tunberg from the Nikolai Gogol novel.
Salt fully hit his stride with the Oscar-winning script for John Schlesinger's "Midnight Cowboy" (1969), an emotionally shattering dramatization of James Leo Herlihy's novel. With the seamy side of NYC as backdrop for its compelling character study, this seminal picture of the 60s looks every bit as good today as when it debuted. Continuing his gritty, socially informed work, Salt received an Academy Award nomination for his contribution to Sidney Lumet's "Serpico" (1973), then reteamed with Schlesinger for "The Day of the Locust" (1975), a disturbing, depressing, absolutely fascinating look at 30s Tinseltown. Primarily an adapter of others, Salt won his second Oscar for co-scripting the original screenplay "Coming Home" (1978), a highly acclaimed post-Vietnam drama directed by Hal Ashby and starring Jane Fonda and Jon Voight.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Life Events
1934
Served as director of drama and music at Menlo School and Junior College in Menlo Park, California
1938
Received first screenwriting credit for "The Shopworn Girl" adapted from Dana Burnet's story "Private Pettigrew's Girl"
1940
Reportedly did uncredited work on the script of "The Philadelphia Story"
1941
Adapted "The Wild Man of Borneo" from play by Marc Connelly and Herman Mankiewicz
1950
Served as dialogue director in addition to scripting "The Flame and the Arrow"
1951
Provided additional dialogue for "M"
1962
First screenwriting credit post-blacklist, "Taras Bulba", co-adapted with Karl Tunberg from the Nikolai Gogol novel
1964
Collaborated on two screenplays for director Michael Anderson, "Flight from Ashiya" and "Wild and Wonderful"
1969
Won Oscar for his "Midnight Cowboy" screenplay, based on the novel by James Leo Herlihy; first collaboration with director John Schlesinger
1971
Adapted Jimmy Breslin's best-selling novel "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight" for the screen
1973
Shared Oscar nomination with Norman Wexler for the screenplay for "Serpico", based on Peter Maas' book
1975
Reteamed with Schlesinger, adapting Nathanael West's novel "The Day of the Locust"
1978
Received second Oscar for co-writing (with Robert C Jones and Nancy Dowd) the anti-war romantic drama "Coming Home"
1983
Played cameo role as a male derelict in John Landis' "Into the Night"
1990
Subject of Oscar-nominated documentary, "Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter's Journey"; aired on PBS in 1991
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
The Sundance Film Festival annual screenwriting award is named in his honor.
Regarding the Hollywood Blacklist: "We suffered from it, and the country did. The American people have to pay for these little gang wars between politicians who are fighting over how much graft they're going to get."-- Waldo Salt, to the authors of "Contemporary Theatre, Film & Television", Volume 6
