Salt's career in Hollywood was interrupted when he was blacklisted after refusing to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1951.

Like many other blacklisted writers, while he was unable to work in Hollywood, Salt wrote under a pseudonym for the British television series The Adventures of Robin Hood.

[4] After the collapse of the blacklist, Salt won Academy Awards for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for his work on Midnight Cowboy and Coming Home respectively, as well as earning a nomination for the former for Serpico.

The first was to Amber Dana (1938-1941), then to actress Mary Davenport (married in 1942) with whom he had two children, actress/writer/producer Jennifer, and Deborah; both marriages ended in divorce.

It is determined by the dramatic jury, and recognizes outstanding screenwriting in a film screened at the festival that year.