Screenwriter behind the hit movies When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle
Nora Ephron, who has died aged 71 after suffering from acute myeloid leukaemia, brought her sharp New Yorker wit, laced with a sentimental streak, to glossy Hollywood romantic comedies, with Oscar-nominated screenplays for When Harry Met Sally (1989) and Sleepless in Seattle (1993), the second of which she also directed. They were the nearest and most successful attempts to revive the spirit of the sophisticated Katharine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy battle-of-the-sexes comedies of the 1950s, and the softer-edged Doris Day/Rock Hudson vehicles of the 1960s.
Ephron's parents, Henry and Phoebe Ephron, were also writers of romantic comedies – including Desk Set (1957) for Hepburn and Tracy – who based a 1961 Broadway play, Take Her She's Mine, on their daughter's rebellious college days. It was turned into a film two years later, with Sandra Dee in the role of the teenager. Later, Ephron would...
Nora Ephron, who has died aged 71 after suffering from acute myeloid leukaemia, brought her sharp New Yorker wit, laced with a sentimental streak, to glossy Hollywood romantic comedies, with Oscar-nominated screenplays for When Harry Met Sally (1989) and Sleepless in Seattle (1993), the second of which she also directed. They were the nearest and most successful attempts to revive the spirit of the sophisticated Katharine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy battle-of-the-sexes comedies of the 1950s, and the softer-edged Doris Day/Rock Hudson vehicles of the 1960s.
Ephron's parents, Henry and Phoebe Ephron, were also writers of romantic comedies – including Desk Set (1957) for Hepburn and Tracy – who based a 1961 Broadway play, Take Her She's Mine, on their daughter's rebellious college days. It was turned into a film two years later, with Sandra Dee in the role of the teenager. Later, Ephron would...
- 6/28/2012
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
On June 26th, writer/director Nora Ephron died at the age of 71. According to CNN, she was undergoing treatment for acute myeloid leukemia. After a stellar career as a journalist and essayist – writing sharply and often with caustic humor – she got her start in film with television (writing an episode for Adam’s Rib in 1973 and penning the TV film Perfect Gentlemen in 1978. Her first feature as a writer was Silkwood, a biopic exploring the mysterious death of whistle-blower Karen Silkwood which earned Ephron an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and began a professional relationship with Meryl Streep. It’s no exaggeration to say that Ephron invented the modern romantic comedy. With When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail and others, she crafted complex, charming characters that better mirrored a balance between how we are and how we wish we were. She continued that legacy through to 2009′s Julie and Julia...
- 6/27/2012
- by Cole Abaius
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
One of the most distinct female writer/directors in the business, Nora Ephron, has sadly passed away at the age of 71 from pneumonia. The pneumonia was a complication resulting from acute myeloid leukemia which she has been quietly battling since her diagnosis in 2006.
Ephron pretty much set the standard template for contemporary romantic comedies and, more importantly, has been a signature voice for women in movies. In times when film studios and producers almost never actively pursued films either made by or for women, she helped break through many of those barriers.
Starting out as a journalist for the likes of Esquire and The New York Times Magazine, Ephron began her foray into cinema penning an unused draft for 1976's "All The President's Men" which lead to the TV movie "Perfect Gentlemen" and then the Meryl Streep-led "Silkwood" which earned Ephron an Oscar nomination.
She re-teamed with Streep on...
Ephron pretty much set the standard template for contemporary romantic comedies and, more importantly, has been a signature voice for women in movies. In times when film studios and producers almost never actively pursued films either made by or for women, she helped break through many of those barriers.
Starting out as a journalist for the likes of Esquire and The New York Times Magazine, Ephron began her foray into cinema penning an unused draft for 1976's "All The President's Men" which lead to the TV movie "Perfect Gentlemen" and then the Meryl Streep-led "Silkwood" which earned Ephron an Oscar nomination.
She re-teamed with Streep on...
- 6/27/2012
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Sad news this evening, as writer, screenwriter, and director Nora Ephron has passed away at the age of 71.
It's hard to imagine the modern romantic comedy without the influence of Ephron, whose perceptive and humorous take on how the sexes interact set a template for a generation. It was Ephron's sense of humor that first got her noticed, pairing with (now celebrated writer) Calvin Trillin for a satirical newspaper that caught the eye of New York Post publisher Dorothy Schiff, who offered her a job. This began Ephron's journalism career that saw her write for a variety of publications including New York, Esquire, and The New York Times Magazine. In 1976, Ephron married Carl Bernstein of Watergate fame, and even did a draft of the screenplay for "All The President's Men" that ultimately wasn't used, but again, someone saw her talent and gave her a shot.
Following a gig writing a...
It's hard to imagine the modern romantic comedy without the influence of Ephron, whose perceptive and humorous take on how the sexes interact set a template for a generation. It was Ephron's sense of humor that first got her noticed, pairing with (now celebrated writer) Calvin Trillin for a satirical newspaper that caught the eye of New York Post publisher Dorothy Schiff, who offered her a job. This began Ephron's journalism career that saw her write for a variety of publications including New York, Esquire, and The New York Times Magazine. In 1976, Ephron married Carl Bernstein of Watergate fame, and even did a draft of the screenplay for "All The President's Men" that ultimately wasn't used, but again, someone saw her talent and gave her a shot.
Following a gig writing a...
- 6/27/2012
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
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