Waldo Salt

• Born — 18 October 1914 • Birthplace — Chicago, Illinois, U.S. • Died — 7 March 1987 • Place of death — Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Other Names — Arthur Behrstock M.L. Davenport Mel Davenport • Occupation — Screenwriter • Education — Stanford University (AB) • Years Active — 1937–1978 • Children — 2 with Davenport (including Jennifer Salt)

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. The first of the nineteen films he wrote or co-wrote was The Bride Wore Red (1937). He received his first screenplay credit for The Shopworn Angel (1938). Salt's career in Hollywood was interrupted in 1951 when he was blacklisted after being labeled a Communist by screenwriter Richard Collins. 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.

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.

Salt was the subject of a 1990 documentary Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter's Journey, which featured interviews with Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jon Voight, John Schlesinger and other collaborators and friends.

• Films • Year — Title — Notes • 1937 — The Bride Wore Red — Adaptation, uncredited • 1938 — The Shopworn Angel — Screenplay • 1939 — The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn — Dialogue, uncredited • 1940 — The Philadelphia Story — Uncredited • 1941 — The Wild Man of Borneo — Screenplay • 1943 — Tonight We Raid Calais — Screenplay • 1944 — Mr. Winkle Goes to War — Alternative title: Arms and the Woman • 1948 — Rachel and the Stranger — Screenplay • 1950 — The Flame and the Arrow — Screenplay • 1951 — M — Additional dialogue • 1961 — Blast of Silence — Narration written by, credited as Mel Davenport • 1962 — Taras Bulba — Screenplay together with Karl Tunberg • 1964 — Flight from Ashiya — Alternative title: Ashiya kara no hiko • Wild and Wonderful • 1969 — Midnight Cowboy — Screenplay; Oscar winner for Best Adapted Screenplay • 1971 — The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight — Alternative title: The Gang That Couldn't Shoot • 1973 — Serpico — Screenplay • 1975 — The Day of the Locust — Screenplay • 1978 — Coming Home — Oscar Winner for Best Original Screenplay • 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 — 4 episodes • 1961 — Tallahassee 7000 — 1 episode • 1964 — Espionage — 1 episode, credited as Mel Davenport • 1965 — The Nurses — 1 episode • 1967 — Coronet Blue — 1 episode

He also worked under the name Mel Davenport. The authorities additionally record the headings Waldo Miller Salt and Waldo M. His recorded language was English. He married Eve Merriam. One child is recorded: Jennifer Salt.

Waldo Salt is recorded as having received Writers Guild of America Award, Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay and Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay.

The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, first presented in 1992, is awarded at the Sundance Film Festival annually. It is determined by the dramatic jury, and recognizes outstanding screenwriting in a film screened at the festival that year.

• Year — Award — Result — Category — Film or series • 1949 — Writers Guild of America Award — 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) • 1979 — Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen — Coming Home (Shared with Robert C. Jones) • 1986 — Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement • 1970 — Academy Award — Won — Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium — Midnight Cowboy • 1974 — Nominated — Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium — Serpico (Shared with Norman Wexler) • 1979 — Won — Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen — Coming Home (Shared with Nancy Dowd and Robert C. Jones) • 1970 — BAFTA Award — Won — Best Screenplay — Midnight Cowboy • 1974 — Edgar Allan Poe Awards — Nominated — Serpico (Shared with Norman Wexler) • 1970 — Golden Globe Award — Nominated — Best Screenplay — Midnight Cowboy • 1979 — Best Screenplay - Motion Picture — Coming Home (Shared with Robert C. Jones)