Movie Producer Barry Yellen and His Wife Pat, a Former Professional Dancer, Support Cancer Research at Weizmann Institute

Barry Yellen, who during his long career produced everything from car shows to movies to a black-tie dinner at the North Pole, and his wife Pat, who was an accomplished dancer, are strong supporters of medical research — including establishing the Yellen Fund for the Advancement of Cancer Research at the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science and also creating gift annuities and planning a bequest to support the Institute.

"After my wife survived cancer, we decided to support cancer research at several institutions," explained Barry, who has been married to Pat for 57 years. "The Weizmann Institute is the only top medical research institution that is not here in the States; it's in Israel, and I am Jewish and very proud of the Institute. I've always been impressed with the research they have conducted."

The fund established by the Yellens has already made grants to researchers. They also created one gift annuity last year, are planning another this year, and are planning a bequest of half of their estate to the Institute.

Both Barry and Pat were born in the Bronx, and both went into the entertainment field — Pat was a professional dancer who performed in the top nightclubs in New York, Chicago and Las Vegas, while Barry graduated from Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts and became a sought-after stage manager before becoming a producer. His many accomplishments included producing car shows for American Motors all over the nation, producing plays off Broadway and around the country, starting a drama festival in Puerto Rico — working with playwright Tennessee Williams and stars such as Boris Karloff, Judy Garland, Joe E. Brown, and Marcel Marceau — and producing many films, including The Christmas That Almost Wasn't that is still shown on TV. Barry also owned 120 movie theaters at one time and produced a TV show, The $128,000 Question, that was an update of The $64,0000 Question.

"I also produced international conferences in interesting places, including Easter Island," Barry says. "For one of them I chartered the world's most powerful ice breaker from the Russians and went to the North Pole and hosted a black-tie party."

The Yellens, now in their 80s and retired to Arizona, met at a New Year's Eve party in New York. It was love at first sight for Barry, and he proposed a few days later. Pat thought about it over dinner, then accepted, and they were married on January 24, 1964. They were told the marriage wouldn't last, but of course they proved those pundits wrong. Now they are enjoying their grandchildren and continuing their philanthropy. The first recipient of a Yellen Fund grant designed a cochlear implant that is totally imbedded in the head rather than the ear — an amazing coincidence since Barry is hard of hearing and has his own cochlear implants.

"She also developed a way for the hairs in the inner ear to regrow," Barry says proudly of Dr. Konstantina Stankovic. "And now she is the chair of the otolaryngology department at Stanford. Meeting the recipients of the Yellen Fund grants to the Weizmann Institute and following their careers brings us a wonderful kind of joy."