Nora Ephron, the quintuple-threat director and screenwriter and playwright and author and columnist, died in June after quietly battling leukemia. She had been a staunch WGA member and received the WGA East’s Ian McClellan Hunter Award in 2003 honoring motion picture work, so this tribute set for the WGA’s New York awards show February 17 is fitting — she never won the guild award despite nominations for a heavy-hitter list of movies (Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally..., Sleepless In Seattle and Julie & Julia). Her last play, Lucky Guy, is set to begin previews on Broadway next month with Tom Hanks and Maura Tierney starring. Here’s the guild’s release announcing plans:
New York City – Writers Guild of America, East today announced a tribute to award-winning, screenwriter, director, playwright, author, and Guild, East member Nora Ephron. The tribute to Ephron, who died in June, will be led by the author Meg Wolitzer, whose novel, “This Is My Life,” was adapted and directed by Ephron in 1992 and presented at the Writers Guild Awards East Coast ceremony on Sunday February 17th, in New York City.
“At this year’s Writers Guild Awards East Coast ceremony, we will mark the passing of one of our most distinguished and creative members. Nora Ephron’s life and body of work were those of a quintessential New Yorker, but not only did she embody the sophistication, wit and energy of our city, she was also a loyal union member who walked the picket line and talked the talk on behalf of all her fellow writers,” said Michael Winship, President, Writers Guild of America, East.
During Ephron’s storied career as a journalist, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, novelist, producer and director, she came to embody the words “Written in New York,” with her iconic set-in-New York scripted films When Harry Met Sally and You’ve Got Mail. Her most recent New York-centric work, the play, Lucky Guy, stars actor Tom Hanks and debuts on Broadway in March 2013.
Ephron was also a longtime Guild member and ardent supporter, and in 2003 received the union’s Ian McClellan Hunter Award honoring her body of work as a writer in motion pictures.
During her nearly four decades in film, Ephron wrote or co-wrote 14 produced screenplays, and had worked on or had in development many more. She directed eight films. Her sister Delia Ephron was a frequent collaborator, co-writing Bewitched, Hanging Up, Michael, Mixed Nuts, You’ve Got Mail, and the off-Broadway play Love, Loss and What I Wore.
Nora Ephron was nominated three times– in 1984, 1990 and 1993, respectively– for the Academy Award in the category of “Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen,” for the films Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle.
She was also nominated four times for the Writers Guild of America Award for Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle and Julie & Julia.
Author, friend and Guild member, Meg Wolitzer will speak and present a video with clips displaying Ephron’s characteristic style and charm from her films and television interviews.
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