June 27, 2012

(JTA) — Film director, author and essayist Nora Ephron, who wrote the book “Heartburn” and the screenplays “When Harry Met Sally” and “Sleepless in Seattle,” has died.

Ephron died Tuesday in a New York hospital of leukemia at the age of 71. Only close friends and family knew of the illness, which was diagnosed in 2006.

Ephron was married three times and divorced twice, the second time from Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein; “Heartburn” was a recounting of their marriage.

A graduate of Wellesley College, she was an intern in the Kennedy White House and then worked as a mail girl at Newsweek. 

She started out as a journalist, moving on to become an author and essayist and later a screen writer and director.

Her last movie was the 2008 hit “Julie and Julia,” starring Meryl Streep.  Her 2006 book of essays called “I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman” became a bestseller on the New York Times list.

She is survived by her husband, author Nicholas Pileggi, and two sons.  
 

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