Norah Ephron, one of Hollywood’s most respected female writers and authors has died at the age of 71.

The news was announced last night that the Oscar-nominated writer/director of classic rom-coms When Harry Met Sally (1987), Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and Julie & Julia (2009) had been suffering from pneumonia which was brought on by the blood condition myelodysplasia which lead to her death. She had been hospitalised earlier that day.

Apart from her contributions to film, Ephron was also a satirical writer who wrote for Esquire, Cosmopolitan and the New York Times Magazine.

She was also married three times, her second husband being the Washington Post journalist Carl Bernstein who exposed the Watergate scandal.

She is survived by her third husband Nicholas Pileggi (who was screenwriter for Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas and Casino) and four children.