Nora Ephron died yesterday at the age of 71 from complications from myelodysplasia, a form of leukemia with which she was diagnosed six years ago.
Ms. Ephron's career had its ups and downs, but she will likely be best remembered as the writer of When Harry Met Sally, arguably the best romantic comedy of the modern era and the film that made Meg Ryan a star. She worked with Ms. Ryan again in Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail. Ms Ephron wrote and directed both films. She also worked frequently with our greatest living actress, Meryl Streep, in Silkwood, Heartburn, and Julie and Julia.
To get a good sense of Ms. Ephron's wit and charm, see this very funny appearance at a 2004 AFI Life Achievement Award ceremony honoring Meryl Streep.
Ephron came from a family of writers and show business people, and she married two famous men. Her brief marriage to Carl Bernstein resulted in the novel and film Heartburn, with Streep playing the Ephron role and Jack Nicholson stepping in as the philandering Carl Bernstein, who Ephron once remarked was “capable of having sex with a Venetian blind.” She also married Nicolas Pileggi in 1987 who wrote GoodFellas and Casino, both memorably brought to the screen by Martin Scorsese.This marriage took, unlike her previous attempts.
Ephron was an intern in the Kennedy White House and often remarked on the fact that she was apparently the only woman on the White House staff to whom JFK didn't make a pass. She attributed the oversight to her Jewishness.
Ephron's style of film making embodied women-centered stories replete with witty and rapid-fire dialog. Just think of a female version of Aaron Sorkin and you get the idea.
Her best films are the Meg Ryan romantic comedy trilogy When Harry Met Sally (1989), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), and You've Got Mail (1998); and the three films she did with Meryl Streep Silkwood (1983), Heartburn (1986), and Julie and Julia (2009).
She will be missed.
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