Description
California Audiovisual Preservation Project (CAVPP)
Waldo Salt was a screenwriter who was a victim of the 1950s Hollywood Blacklist at the height of his career. Graduating from Stanford in 1934, he had a successful career in Hollywood throughout the 1930s and 40s. In 1951, he was subpoenaed to testify before the House Un-American Activities committee about his ties to the Communist Party. He stood on his First Amendment rights and refused to cooperate. He was dubbed one of the “Unfriendly Nineteen” and went without work for 11 years. He resumed his career with the 1962 film Taras Bulba (1962). Salt went on to win two Academy Awards for Midnight Cowboy (1969) and Coming Home (1978) as well as earning a nomination for Serpico (1973). He died in Los Angeles in 1987.
Waldo Salt was a screenwriter who was a victim of the 1950s Hollywood Blacklist at the height of his career. Graduating from Stanford in 1934, he had a successful career in Hollywood throughout the 1930s and 40s. In 1951, he was subpoenaed to testify before the House Un-American Activities committee about his ties to the Communist Party. He stood on his First Amendment rights and refused to cooperate. He was dubbed one of the “Unfriendly Nineteen” and went without work for 11 years. He resumed his career with the 1962 film Taras Bulba (1962). Salt went on to win two Academy Awards for Midnight Cowboy (1969) and Coming Home (1978) as well as earning a nomination for Serpico (1973). He died in Los Angeles in 1987.