Waldo Salt

Salt fully hit his stride with the Oscar-winning script for John Schlesinger's "Midnight Cowboy" (1969), an emotionally shattering dramatization of James Leo Herlihy's novel. With the seamy side of NYC as backdrop for its compelling character study, this seminal picture of the 60s looks every bit as good today as when it debuted. Continuing his gritty, socially informed work, Salt received an Academy Award nomination for his contribution to Sidney Lumet's "Serpico" (1973), then reteamed with Schlesinger for "The Day of the Locust" (1975), a disturbing, depressing, absolutely fascinating look at 30s Tinseltown. Primarily an adapter of others, Salt won his second Oscar for co-scripting the original screenplay "Coming Home" (1978), a highly acclaimed post-Vietnam drama directed by Hal Ashby and starring Jane Fonda and Jon Voight.