Nora Ephron never won an Oscar, although she was nominated for 3 of her screenplays (for Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally… and Sleepless in Seattle). With the exception of Silkwood, she didn’t write or direct Oscar-type movies–gravitas wasn’t her thing. Ephron, who died today at the age of 71, was a proponent of light, romantic comedies, sometimes even where her material didn’t quite fit the genre (Bewitched), and in Harry and Sleepless, she was behind 2 of the all-time classics. (You’ve Got Mail, not such a classic, was a tremendous hit as well.) Really, she–along with Nancy Meyers–created her own subgenre, a world of romance where comfortable, prosperous and–incredibly daring for youth-oriented Hollywood–even middle-aged women could find true love and fulfillment. In a sense, it was rom-com for what’s now the “50 Shades of Grey” audience, although that was hardly her kind of content. Meryl Streep starred in 3 of her scripts, and Meg Ryan in 3 more (Tom Hanks and Steve Martin were her male stars of choice, with 2 each), and their kind of acting–polished, professional, smooth, impeccable–was her kind of filmmaking.
Ephron even got her own happy ending, professionally speaking. After 2 sizable missteps with Lucky Numbers and Bewitched, Ephron had a third chance–not something Hollywood gives automatically, and certainly not to 68-year old women. In 2009, her last film, Julie & Julia, proved to be one of the biggest hits of her career, behind only the Hanks/Ryan blockbusters, and earning an Oscar nomination for Streep. It was a classy exit, and a suitable one.
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