RIP Nora Ephron (1941–2012)

Sad news. Writer/director Nora Ephron has passed away at the age of 71. Responsible for helming rom-com classics Sleepless In Seattle and You've Got Mail  (both starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks), Ephron passed away after a long battle with Leukemia that started in 2006.

In her long 40-year career she may have only directed eight features – started in 1992 with This Is My Life – but she was also a best-selling author and screenwriter of the likes of When Harry Met Sally and Heartburn.

A three-time Oscar nominee, her final film, Julie & Julia saw Meryl Streep receive yet another Academy Award nomination.

Starting out as a journalist for the likes of Esquire and The NY 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 Streep-led "Silkwood" which earned Ephron an Oscar nomination.

Ephron pretty much set the standard template for modern romantic comedies and, was also a signature voice for women in movies.  Coming up at a time when film studios and producers almost never actively pursued films either made by or for women, she helped break through many of those barriers.

THR has more....