By Yesterday essayist, screenwriter, director and all around awesome person Nora Ephron passed away at the age of 71. The cause was pneumonia brought on by acute myeloid leukemia, her son Jacob Bernstein said. Ephron had a long and illustrious career in the film business where she basically defined the modern romantic comedy with films like Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally while simultaneously setting the bar so high for the genre that she pretty much guaranteed no one else was going to do much better.
Later in life she would go on to direct films, becoming one of the few well known female directors in an industry dominated by men. Here last film, Jule & Julia, earned Meryl Streep another Academy Award and was once again as charming and thoughtful as one expected from her. It’s hard to sum up what Ephron meant to modern cinema as a whole as her influence can be seen almost everywhere. Sure, the obvious romantic comedies house her style, but even the likes of Judd Apatow owe her writing a debt of gratitude.
What were your favorite Ephron movies or moments?
[via The New York Times]
