Nora Ephron was born on May 19, 1941 in New York City, New York. Both her mother, Phoebe Ephron, and her father, Henry Ephron, were screenwriters. Nora was the oldest of four daughters, and two of her sisters were also screenwriters. Nora grew up in Beverly Hills. Since Nora grew up in Beverly Hills and her parents were screenwriters, the film industry played a major role in her life as she grew up.
Nora Ephron was a very talented and successful screenwriter and director, but film wasn’t her career path at first. Ephron attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts, and she graduated in 1962. While attending Wellesley College, she majored in journalism. Soon after graduating, she received her first job as an intern at the White House while John F. Kennedy was president. In addition to her internship at the White House, she also worked for the Post and Esquire. While working at Esquire, she began to become very popular as a writer.
In 1976, Nora Ephron married Carl Bernstein. Bernstein was mainly a journalist, but he was a screenwriter. During their marriage, Bernstein and another journalist named Bob Woodward requested that Nora helped Bernstein rewrite William Goldman’s script for All the Presidents Men. Even though their script was not used for the film, this is where Nora would get her start in the film industry. She would go on to write and direct many popular films. After helping Bernstein rewrite the Goldman script, Nora Ephron would begin to start writing on her own. In 1983, Nora wrote her first screenplay, Silkwood. This film would earn her an Academy Award nomination for Best screenplay. She would go on to write and direct 15 more films. Nora Ephron was known for her comedic films with a strong female role.
After a ton of success for her films like When Harry Met Sally…(Rob Reiner, 1989) and Silkwood (Mike Nichols, 1983), Nora Ephron would go on to write and direct one of her most popular films, Sleepless in Seattle (1993). Sleepless in Seattle was a romantic comedy that starred Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. The film was about a man named Sam Baldwin and his son, Jonah, that moves from Chicago to Seattle because Sam’s wife died, and everything in Chicago reminded Sam of his late wife. After moving to Seattle, Jonah tries to encourage his dad to start dating again, but Sam refuses. On Christmas Eve, Sam pours his heart out on a radio show, and that’s when Annie Reed comes into the picture. She is intrigued with Sam’s story at writes him. Jonah wants Sam to date her, but Sam thinks it’s impossible because she lives to far away and wants to meet someone that traditional way. After Jonah decides to fly to New York to meet Annie, Sam follows him. While in New York, Sam and Annie finally meet and hit it off. Sleepless in Seattle was nominated for two Academy Awards and one Golden Globe. Audiences coming to see Sleepless in Seattle expected the film to be very comedic while also being very dramatic. The audience expected this since Nora wrote many comedic films such as When Harry Met Sally…, Cookie (Susan Seidelman, 1989), My Blue Heaven (Herbert Ross, 1990) and Heartburn (Nichols, 1986). In addition to these comedic films, Nora wrote the screenplays for the dramatic films of This is My Life (Ephron, 1992) and Silkwood.
Unfortunately, Nora Ephron passed away on June 26, 2012 at the age of 71. She passed way due to pneumonia that was caused by acute myeloid leukemia. She was still writing and directing in her later years. She both wrote and directed Bewitched (2005) and Julie & Julia (2009). Nora Ephron will always be remembered for her comedic approach in dramatic films. She was a major influence for the Romantic Comedy film genre.
Nora Ephron Filmography:
As Writer:
Silkwood (1983)
Heartburn (1986)
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
My Blue Heaven (1990)
The Super (1991)
Hanging up (2000)
As Director:
Lucky Numbers (2000)
As Writer and Director:
This is my life (1992)
Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
Mixed Nuts (1994)
Michael (1996)
You’ve Got Mail (1998)
Bewitched (2005)
Julie & Julia (2009)
Works Cited
Biography.com Editors. "Nora Ephron Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.
<http://www.biography.com/people/nora-ephron-212142>.
"Nora Ephron." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2016. <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001188/?ref_=tt_ov_wr>.
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