The sad news that writer-filmmaker Nora Ephron passed away yesterday at the age of 71 reminded me of one of my favorite stories about her that I read in an essay she wrote in The New Yorker. (Nora Ephron, “My Life As An Heiress,” The New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2010: 54-57.)
In 1987, Ephron was struggling with trying to write a screenplay to make some money. She did not think her work was very good, but she continued working on it because she needed the money.
Then, she got a call that a rich uncle had died. Because he was a widow and did not have children, Ephron and her three sisters began talking about how they would spend the millions of dollars they would inherit. During this time, Ephron put away her screenplay, planning to never work on it again. She no longer needed the money and did not enjoy writing the screenplay she saw as worthless.
In the next few weeks, though, Ephron and her sisters discoverd that the uncle was not as rich as they thought. He had lost a lot of money in bad investments, and he left half his money to his housekeeper. Ultimately, Ephron and her sisters each received $40,000.
For Ephron, the money was not enough to retire, of course. So, she went back to working on her screenplay. She eventually finished the screenplay that became When Harry Met Sally… (1989), one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time. While she had already written screenplays for successful movies like Silkwood (1983), the success of When Harry Met Sally changed her life. She went on to work on other films as a screenwriter and/or director such as Sleepless in Seattle (1993), You’ve Got Mail (1998), Michael (1996), and Julia & Julia (2009).
Her uncle never knew the gift he left to us by not making Nora Ephron a wealthy heiress.
Check out our previous post on why When Harry Met Sally with Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan has one of the greatest New Year’s Eve kisses in movie history. What is your favorite Nora Ephron film as screenwriter or director? Leave your two cents in the comments.
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