TRUST Trivia: Nora Ephron

New York-born and LA-raised, this beloved, late writer of screen, stage (and pretty much everything else) blessed the world with classics like “When Harry Met Sally,” “You’ve Got Mail,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” and “Julie and Julia” before her life was prematurely terminated by illness at 71-years.

The wonder woman of wit had a whole lot to write about, and  here’s the trivia to prove it: 

1. She grew up in a house where a pen was the hottest commodity.

Nora was the eldest of four daughters born to east-coast Jewish parents, screenwriters Henry and Phoebe Ephron.  Like Nora, middle sisters Delia and Amy Ephron followed suit, while youngest sister Hallie Ephron became a journalist, book reviewer, and crime-fiction novelist.

2. Her tumultuous saga of marriages led to success on the silver screen.

After breaking off a nine-year marriage to writer Dan Greenburg, Nora married journalist Carl Bernstein (famous for his coverage of Watergate). In 1979, Nora, pregnant, discovered that Bernstein was having an affair with British politician (and mutual friend) Margaret Jay. The incident inspired her to write her novel, “Heartburn” (1983), which was then made into a film starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep (1986). Her third husband was fellow screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi.

3. She had a stint on Capitol Hill.

After graduating from Wellesley College in 1962, Ephron worked briefly as an intern in the White House under President John F. Kennedy. 

4. She was the one who ratted out Deep Throat, Mark Felt, of Watergate.

For many years, Ephron was among only a handful of people in the world who knew that Mark Felt was the true identity of Deep Throat, a key source of information integral to exposing the misdeeds of the Nixon administration. Deep Throat was first introduced to the public in the 1974 book-turned-film “All the President’s Men,”  co-authored by her ex-husband Carl Bernstein.

4. Her legacy lives on.

Eight months after her death on June 26, 2012, Ephron’s play “Lucky Guy” opened on Broadway for a limited run starring her longtime friend Tom Hanks. She was honored this year with a posthumous Tony Award nomination for the show.