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Silkwood
Ephron received her first Academy Award nomination for penning this script about the tragic life of Karen Silkwood, the plutonium plant worker who many believed was murdered to prevent her from exposing a litany of safety violations at her Oklahoma job. The film marked the beginning of her lifelong collaboration with the actress Meryl Streep and gave us lesbian Cher, the greatest Cher ever.
Heartburn
Based on the best selling novel Ephron wrote about her split from journalist Carl Bernstein (yes, that Carl Bernstein), this marked the second time Ephron worked with legendary director Mike Nichols, who also directed Silkwood. Streep was back again, this time playing Ephron, while Jack Nicholson played the role of Bernstein — with all names changed of course.
When Harry Met Sally
Ephron became the go to gal for romantic comedies after penning the script for what many consider to be one of the greatest films of the eighties. Meg Ryan became Ephron’s second muse and the queen of rom coms after the film premiered, and we are all now forced to watch women and men alike fake orgasms in Katz’s Deli in honor of the film’s most famous scene.
Sleepless in Seattle
Ephron snagged her third Oscar nom for this Ryan and Tom Hanks flick about a lonely widow searching for a partner via a late night radio talk show. Based on the timeless classic An Affair to Remember, the film also was the first major appearance for Rosie O’Donnell after her debut in A League of Their Own, playing Ryan’s newspaper editor.
You’ve Got Mail
Perhaps one of the most underrated films of all time, Mail reunited Ryan and Hanks as two NYC bookstore owners who fall in love despite their wildly different personalities and fiancees, played hysterically by Parker Posey and Greg Kinear. Shot largely on location in NYC’s Upper West Side, it is without question Ephron’s prettiest film.
