Eliot Wald

The man most frequently cited as the catalyst for Siskel and Ebert at the Movies, writer/producer Eliot Wald also made significant contributions to Saturday Night Live during the Eddie Murphy era. A Bronx native who graduated from the Bronx School of Science, Wald earned a degree in Clinical Psychology from Hofstra University. Later relocating to Chicago and finding work with The Chicago Seed and Radio Free Chicago, a stint as a music and movie critic at the Chicago Sun-Times inspired Wald to come up with Sneak Previews, a weekly television program focusing on film reviews and featuring critics Roger Ebert of the Sun-Timesand Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune. In addition to being a writer/producer for Saturday Night Live, Wald was also the co-producer and creator of the popular public television series Soundstage. His film work included screenplays for such features as See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), Down Periscope (1996), and a production and writing credit on the 1994 comedy Camp Nowhere. Wald met his wife Jane at a Hollywood premier by chance while living as neighbors in Chicago. He died of cancer in Los Angeles in July 2003 at the age of 57.

~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide