Introduction
Henry Ephron (May 26, 1911 – September 6, 1992) was an American playwright, screenwriter and film producer who often worked with his wife, Phoebe (née Wolkind). He was active as a writer from the early 1940s through the early 1960s.
Henry Ephron was born in Bronx, New York, the son of Gittle "Gussie" (née Weinstein) and Yitzhak Asher "Isaac" Ephron, a retailer. His parents were Jewish immigrants, his father from Grodno, now in Belarus, and his mother from Skidzyel', now in Belarus. All four of his daughters by his first wife, Phoebe: Nora Ephron, Delia Ephron, Hallie Ephron and Amy Ephron, also became notable writers. Coincidentally, his second wife, June (née Gilmartin; July 6, 1911 – November 13, 1996), widow of Oscar Levant, who wed Ephron in 1978, was also one of four sisters.
Ephron died in 1992 of "natural causes" at the Motion Picture Hospital in Los Angeles.
Notable works
(unless otherwise noted, films written with Phoebe Ephron):
- Three Is a Family (1944)
- Bride by Mistake (1944)
- Belles on Their Toes (1952) ; sequel to Cheaper by the Dozen
- Daddy Long Legs (1955); Screenplay
- Carousel (1956); also producer
- Desk Set (1957); also producer
- Take Her, She's Mine (1961); Broadway play, later made into a film, then an unsold ABC TV comedy series with Van Johnson starring in the pilot
- There's No Business Like Show Business (1961)
- Captain Newman, M.D. (1963), nominated for Oscar, Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
Autobiography
- We Thought We Could Do Anything (1977)