Bert SalzmanBert Salzman was an American writer and film director. He won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for directing Angel and Big Joe.Early lifeBert Salzman was born on September 2, 1931 in New York City and grew up in an orphanage. He never completed high school and became self-educated. As a young boy, he became interested with painting. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and fought in the Korean War.