Stirling Dale Silliphant January 16 1918 April 26 1996 was an American screenwriter and producer He is best remembered for his screenplay for In the Heat of the Night for which he won an Academy Award in 1967 and for creating the television series Naked City Perry Mason and Route 66 Other features as screenwriter include the Irwin Allen productions The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure Description above from the Wikipedia article Stirling Silliphant licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia