Waldo Salt

Screenwriter. Born 18 October 1914 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Died 7 March 1987.

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Born

18 October 1914, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Died

7 March 1987

Biography

Waldo Salt was an American screenwriter. Born in Chicago, Illinois, he graduated from Stanford University and began working as a junior writer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His early credits include The Shopworn Angel (1938) and an uncredited contribution to the screenplay for The Philadelphia Story (1940).

Salt's career was interrupted by the Hollywood blacklist in the 1950s, during which he wrote under pseudonyms including Mel Davenport. He returned with screenplays for Midnight Cowboy (1969), Serpico (1973), The Day of the Locust (1975) and Coming Home (1978). He received Academy Awards for the screenplays of Midnight Cowboy and Coming Home.

Compiled from published sources (en.wikipedia.org, scripts-onscreen.com) · 16 September 2026How we write and check

Films and series

Beyond what we have reviewed, Waldo Salt is known for Serpico (1973), Midnight Cowboy (1969), Coming Home (1978), The Day of the Locust (1975), Blast of Silence (1961), The Flame and the Arrow (1950), Taras Bulba (1962) and M (1951).

The Philadelphia Story

1940 · Screenplay