Nora Ephron, the woman responsible for movie classics When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail, is gravely ill with leukemia.

The writer and director is "deathly ill", according to US television network ABC.

Newspaper columnist Liz Smith has told the ABC that Ephron's funeral is already planned. Writer Richard Cohen says Ephron's death is "imminent".

Ephron's agent Bryan Lourd has confirmed the reports, according to the ABC.

The 71-year-old has won numerous awards for her work and received three Oscar nominations for her films: Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle.

Ephron earned recent acclaim for her novel about aging, I Feel Bad About My Neck, as well as the play she co-authored with her daughter, Love, Lost, and What I Wore.

She also wrote and directed the 2009 film Julie and Julia, starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams.