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Women

Screenwriter and Director Nora Ephron Dies of Leukemia at Age 71

Screenwriter and director Nora Ephron, famous for penning When Harry Met Sally, Silkwood, Sleepless in Seattle and Julie and Julia, died of complications from leukemia at age 71, Tuesday at a hospital in New York. A three-time Academy Award nominee Ephron rose to the top in male-dominated Hollywood as one of a handful of women who wrote, directed and produced. She also created strong, funny female characters that have been played by the likes of Meg Ryan, Meryl Streep and Cher.

Tracy E. Gilchrist

Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.

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Tracy E. Gilchrist

TracyEGilchrist

June 26 2012 8:44 PM EST

November 08 2024 7:54 AM EST

Screenwriter and director Nora Ephron, famous for penning When Harry Met Sally, Silkwood, Sleepless in Seattle and Julie and Julia, died of leukemia at age 71, Tuesday in New York, according to the Washington Post.

A three-time Academy Award nominee Ephron rose to the top in male-dominated Hollywood as one of a handful of women who wrote, directed and produced. She also created strong, funny female characters that have been played by the likes of Meg Ryan, Meryl Streep and Cher.

The 1983 Streep and Jack Nicholson starrer Heartburn, for which Ephron wrote the screenplay, was based on her novel about her marriage to former Washington Post journalist Carl Bernstein.

Ephron also co-wrote the screenplay for Mike Nichols critically acclaimed 1983 whistle blower drama Silkwood, which starred Streep, Cher and Kurt Russell, in which Cher earned an Oscar nomination for her turn as Dolly Pelliker, one of the first big-screen lesbian characters to be portrayed as a fully rounded person.

In an interview with the Advocate in 2009 Ephron discussed the character saying, “…I really do think was a breakthrough. I don't mean that she was the first gay character in a mainstream movie, but this was no joking, winking, interior decorator gay person; it was a person.”