Stirling Silliphant is representative of the large group of Hollywood screenwriters respected more for their ability to produce marketable scripts than for artistic achievement. He has had steady and lucrative employment in films and television since the 1950s. Most of his work has been on action or suspense films more intended to please audiences than critics, but he has also received acclaim and awards for his scripts for In the Heat of the Night (1967) and Charly (1968). Silliphant has been called "the ultimate screenwriting professional."

Stirling Dale Silliphant was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Leigh Lemuel and Ethel May Noaker Silliphant. He has been married three times and has two children. Silliphant attended the University of Southern California, graduating magna cum laude in 1938. At school he became interested in writing and began entering his short stories and essays in college competitions. Upon graduating, he worked briefly as a reporter...