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Full articlePhoebe Ephron (née Wolkind; January 26, 1914 – October 13, 1971) was an American playwright and screenwriter renowned for her witty comedies and adaptations created in collaboration with her husband, Henry Ephron. Born in the Bronx, New York, to Jewish parents Louis and Kate Wolkind, she graduated from Hunter College in 1935 and balanced a demanding career with raising four daughters—all of whom later became professional writers—while drawing inspiration from family life for her work.
Ephron met Henry Ephron in 1933 while both were counselors at a summer camp, and they married the following year, beginning a lifelong creative and personal partnership. After early struggles in New York, the couple relocated to California in the 1940s, where they transitioned from Broadway to Hollywood screenwriting, working for studios like Warner Bros. and 20th Century-Fox. Their breakthrough came with the 1943 Broadway play Three’s a Family, a domestic comedy loosely based on their experiences raising daughter Nora, which enjoyed a successful run of 497 performances.
Among their most notable collaborations were the screenplays for Desk Set (1957), starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn; the musical adaptation There's No Business Like Show Business (1954); and Carousel (1956), based on the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. They received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for Captain Newman, M.D. (1963), a comedy-drama about a military psychiatrist. Ephron also penned the solo play Howie in 1958, though it had a brief run, and she was celebrated for her sharp humor, often advising her daughters to transform personal hardships into material with the mantra, "Everything is copy." She died after a long illness at age 57 in New York City, leaving a legacy that profoundly influenced her daughters Nora, Delia, Amy, and Hallie Ephron.
In brief
Phoebe Ephron (née Wolkind; January 26, 1914 – October 13, 1971) was an American playwright and screenwriter. She often worked with Henry Ephron, her husband, whom she wed in 1934. Ephron was born in New York City to Louis and Kate (née Lautkin) Wolkind, a dress manufacturer.
Her family is Jewish. Ephron was active as a writer from the early 1940s through the early 1960s. Her four daughters – Nora Ephron, Delia Ephron, Hallie Ephron and Amy Ephron – all became writers like their parents.
