Eliot Wald (February 10, 1946 – July 12, 2003) was a comedy writer who worked for The Second City improv group in Chicago and for Saturday Night Live before turning to movies.
Wald grew up in the Bronx, graduated from Bronx High School of Science (1962) and Hofstra University (B.A., 1967) and then moved to Chicago, where he wrote for underground papers and for WTTW, the public television station in that city.
Wald joined the staff of the Chicago Daily News to write for a youth-oriented section called Sidetracks.
One of many Second City alums to join Saturday Night Live, Wald contributed to the show in an era known for performances by Eddie Murphy and Billy Crystal, often collaborating with another Chicago writer, Nate Herman.
He lived and wrote in New York for five years before he and Kurtzman moved to Los Angeles.