---
name: "Waldo Salt"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/waldo-salt"
roles: ["Screenwriter"]
born: "18 October 1914"
died: "7 March 1987"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T11:55:02.399687+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Waldo Salt

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

## Details

- **Work:** Screenwriter
- **Born:** 18 October 1914, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- **Died:** 7 March 1987
- **Also known as:** Waldo Miller Salt, Arthur Behrstock, Mel Davenport, M.L. Davenport

## 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*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, scripts-onscreen.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Philadelphia Story* (1940), Fi1m 84, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/the-philadelphia-story.md)

## Also known for

- *Serpico* (1973), Screenplay
- *Midnight Cowboy* (1969), Screenplay
- *Coming Home* (1978), Screenplay
- *The Day of the Locust* (1975), Screenplay
- *Blast of Silence* (1961), Writer
- *The Flame and the Arrow* (1950), Writer
- *Taras Bulba* (1962), Screenplay
- *M* (1951), Dialogue

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/waldo-salt