In the winter of 1968, a package arrived at my New York apartment. Inside was a copy of a short story called Yentl the Yeshiva Boy, by Isaac Bashevis Singer. I didn’t know Singer’s work and I didn’t know the man who had sent it to me, a producer named Valentine Sherry … what an odd name, like something you’d see on a candy box. So I just glanced at his cover note and added it to the pile of scripts on my desk.
A few nights later I took it to bed with me … that’s where I do most of my reading. I identified with Yentl immediately. And by the time I turned the last page, I was completely captivated by this story of a young Jewish woman in 19th-century Poland whose “soul thirsted to study Torah” … which is like going to college and studying history, law, philosophy and religion. So she disguised herself as a man in order to get the kind of education that was denied to women at that time. In the morning I called David Begelman, my agent, and said: “I’ve just found my next movie. It’s called Yentl the Yeshiva Boy.”
David was taken aback. I could practically feel him cringe at the other end of the line. He said: “Are you kidding me? We already turned that down for you. You’ve just played a Jewish girl and now you tell me that you want to play a Jewish boy?”
Now I was taken aback. “Wait a minute,” I said, “you mean you turned something down without even discussing it with me? You can’t do that!”
“Barbra, you’re going to be a big star as soon as Funny Girl comes out. And you’ve got two more big movies on your plate. And now you’re saying you want to do some fakakta short story? Don’t waste your time.”
I’m pretty sure David had dollar signs in his head, and he definitely wasn’t interested in me doing some little art film. But there was something about this story that really spoke to me. So I called Valentine Sherry.
And that was the beginning of a saga that would engage me, frustrate me, challenge me, exhaust me and exhilarate me … for the next 15 years. I went on to make one movie after another, but I never lost sight of Yentl.
I met with various studio executives to pitch the movie.
“I have a short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer …”
“Who?”
“He was born in Poland and he writes these wonderful folk tales in Yiddish.”
“Huh?”
“This is a story
