Filmmaker Nora Ephron of 'Sleepless in Seattle,' 'Julie & Julia' Fame Dead at 71 - East Idaho News
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Filmmaker Nora Ephron of ‘Sleepless in Seattle,’ ‘Julie & Julia’ Fame Dead at 71

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89528384?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1340757488834Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Oscar-nominated filmmaker Nora Ephron, best known for directing Sleepless in Seattle and writing When Harry Met Sally and Silkwood, has died. Sources tell ABC News that Ephron, 71, had been suffering from leukemia.

Starting out as a journalist, Ephron got into film when she helped her then-husband, reporter Carl Bernstein, rewrite the screenplay for All The President’s Men, which was based on Bernstein’s book about the Watergate scandal.  Though the script wasn’t used, it landed Ephron her first screenwriting job, for a TV movie.

Among Ephron’s most notable movie scripts were Silkwood, Heartburn — which was based on her novel inspired by her marriage to Bernstein — and When Harry Met Sally.

Her first big hit as a director was the 1993 Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle, which she also wrote. She reunited Hanks and Ryan in 1998 for another smash romantic comedy, You’ve Got Mail.

Though she was never nominated for best director, Ephron received three Oscar nominations for best original screenplay for Sleepless in Seattle, Silkwood and When Harry Met Sally.

Ephron’s most recent movie, Julie & Julia, resulted in an Academy Award nomination for its star Meryl Streep, for her uncanny portrayal of famed TV chef Julia Child.

Ephron was married to writer and filmmaker Nicholas Pillegi, 79. She was the mother of two children from her previous marriage to Bernstein.

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