R.I.P. Nora Ephron

Nora Ephron, a filmmaker and writer whose movies like When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail were hugely influential in shaping the romantic-comedy genre and Meg Ryan's fictional relationship life, died Tuesday night of pneumonia brought on by acute myeloid leukemia. She was 71.

Ephron was three times nominated for Academy Awards for her screenplays--for When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, and even for her very first feature script, Silkwood--and her most recent effort, Julie & Julia, earned nearly $130 million and a Best Actress nod for star Meryl Streep, while, per usual, proving Amy Adams a delight. Her filmography also includes Steve Martin comedies My Blue Heaven and Mixed Nuts, the Travolta-is-an-angel film Michael, and the 2005 remake of Bewitched. Despite the overwhelming evidence, Ephron did not do Baby Boom, It's Complicated, or Something's Gotta Give. Those were Nancy Meyers, so don't bring them up if you're talking about Nora Ephron today.

Ephron should be remembered as an essayist, journalist, novelist, and blogger, and as a determined woman who admirably succeeded in ascending to the top of her niche of the film world. In an industry that even today strongly favors men, she gave women a voice, even if that voice was, at times, just nervously responding to an AOL message from Tom Hanks.

Full, comprehensive obituary at The New York Times. Elderly woman attempting to order a meal that will cause an orgasm below.