Famed writer and filmmaker Nora Ephron died yesterday at New York Presbyterian Hospital. She was 71.
Ephron had been receiving treatment for acute myeloid leukemia and pneumonia and was surrounded by family when she passed on Tuesday.
She penned a large number of box office hits – romantic comedies featuring strong but appealing characters.
Her most notable screenplays included “Sleepless in Seattle,” “When Harry Met Sally,” “Silkwood,” “My Blue Heaven,” “Michael,” “You’ve Got Mail” and “Julie & Julia.”
Nora received three Academy Award nominations and was considered one of the most powerful women in the entertainment industry.
She married and later divorced Washington Post investigative reporter Carl Bernstein, who teamed up with Bob Woodward to cover the Watergate scandal that led to government investigations and the resignation of President Richard Nixon.
The divorce, after she discovered he was having an affair with their mutual friend, prompted her to write the 1983 novel “Heartburn” which was later made into a movie starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep. It was a classic tale of a cheating spouse “who was capable of having sex with a Venetian blind.” Bernstein threatened to sue but never did.
Ephron is survived by her third husband, screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi.
Although Jewish by birth, Ephron was not religious. During an NPR interview following her 2009 movie “Julie & Julia,” she quipped, “You can never have too much butter – this is my belief. If I have a religion, that’s it.”
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