This Wednesday morning we bring you some very sad movie news: Nora Ephron - Oscar nominated director, producer and the screenwriter behind two of my absolute favourite movies of all time 'When Harry Met Sally' and 'Sleepless in Seattle' - has sadly passed away.
Ephron's publisher, Alfred P Knopf confirmed the death of the 71 year old writer in a statement just last night. "She brought an awful lot of people a tremendous amount of joy... She will be sorely missed."
Meanwhile speaking to the New York Times, Ephron's son Jacob Bernstein explained how she died from a bout of pneumonia relating to acute myeloid leukaemia.
On the back of the aforementioned romantic comedy classics, Ephron soon became referred to as one of the most respected and influential women working in Hollywood. Most recently she had worked with Meryl Streep on both Julia and Julia and Heartburn which chronicled the breakdown of the writer's own marriage with journalist Carl Bernstein. Commenting on what a joy it was to work with Ephron since they first joined forces on the movie Silkwood, Streep told the New York Times "Nora just looked at every situation and cocked her head and thought, 'Hmmmm, how can I make this more fun?' "
Having broken the mould at the beginning of her career by writing for the New York Post, New York Times Magazine and Esquire - something that few women at that time had yet to achieve - this California girl certainly left her mark on not only the Big Apple but the wider cultural community as well.
As The Guardian this morning report, Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York has issued a statement in which he describes Ephron's death as "a devastating one" for the city's writing circle. "From her earliest days at New York City's newspapers to her biggest Hollywood successes, Nora always loved a good New York story, and she could tell them like no one else," he said. Meanwhile former Vanity Fair editor made her comments via Twitter: "The wit the warmth the wisdom of Nora Ephron. God how I will miss her."
Tributes continue to pour in for Ephron. Steve Martin said onTwitter "She was the one you wanted to read, to listen to, to be in the company of. Nora Ephron. Incomparable wit; delightful friend. Sadness reigns. She made everything make sense". Julianne Moore said: "I am so very sad about Nora Ephron. A great loss." Zooey Deschanel took to the social media outlet to say: "I'm very sad about Nora Ephron, a hero for all funny ladies." While Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake among others said "Nora Ephron...thank you for your ground breaking contributions for women in the film industry. You have truly paved the way. With respect..." and "R.I.P. Nora Ephron... Funny, charming, witty, full of heart, and one of the greatest who put it all down in timeless, quotable classics" respectively.
In memory of this amazing woman, let's take a look at one of the most famous scenes of her most popular movie.
R.I.P