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Waldo Salt

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Screenwriter

The Resume

    (October 18, 1914-March 7, 1987)
    Born in Chicago, Illinois
    Won Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay for ‘Midnight Cowboy’ (1969) and Best Original Screenplay for ‘Coming Home’ (1978)
    Also wrote screenplays for the films ‘The Shopworn Angel’ (1938), ‘The Wild Man of Borneo’ (1941), ‘Arms and the Woman’ (1944), ‘Rachel and the Stranger’ (1948), ‘Taras Bulba’ (1962), ‘Wild and Wonderful’ (1964), ‘The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight’ (1971), ‘Serpico’ (1973) and ‘The Day of the Locust’ (1975)
    Subject of the documentary ‘Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter’s Journey’ (1990)
    Father of actress Jennifer Salt

Why he might be annoying:

    He was divorced twice.
    He joined the American Communist Party (1938).
    One of the directors of ‘Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter’s Journey’ said of his initial post-blacklist work, ‘The kitsch he wrote in the early Sixties cost him his self-respect.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    He graduated from Stanford at age 18.
    He was blacklisted for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (1951).
    He said, ‘I wish we had done something to deserve being blacklisted. I wish we’d had that much influence on film or on politics at that time.’
    The Sundance Film Festival named its award for best screenplay after him.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 120 Votes: 67.50% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 26 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 113 Votes: 61.06% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 54 Votes: 64.81% Annoying