CLUB HONORS FILM INDUSTRY VETERAN, WIFE.

Byline: Victoria Giraud

Life's been good to Nat and Bea Fellman, and they enjoy sharing their good fortune.

Active over the years in Variety Club Boys and Girls Clubs in New York, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and California, the couple recently was honored as Golden Man and Woman of the Year at the eighth annual Los Angeles Boys & Girls Club Awards Luncheon. In addition, the club's library in progress has been named the Bea and Nat Fellman Library.

``It was an overwhelming experience,'' Nat Fellman said of their honor. ``I've been around quite a bit and had certain honors. This one really outdid them all. We were really surprised.''

During their years in Southern California, the Fellmans have hosted a Variety Club membership luncheon, co-chaired the first Los Angeles Telethon Dinner and founded a scholarship fund.

Bea and Nat also have found time to be active in B'Nai Brith and the Conejo Unit of the Jonnson Cancer Center Foundation. Nat also has served as a board member with the Will Rogers Memorial Institute and the Motion Picture Pioneers, both charity organizations.

A longtime executive in the entertainment industry, Nat literally lived the dream of progressing from the mail room to president.

Before he graduated from a New York high school in 1928, ``My mother asked a neighbor if she knew where her son could get a job. She gave an address, and I went down and got a job with Warner Bros.,'' Nat recalled.

The job paid $12 a week, and when an opportunity came up to make an additional $3 a week - ``a fortune'' for that day - he took it. At that point a film had an accompanying record, synchronized with the film, for movie sound. ``I kept an inventory of the records. I made sure that we had the records to go with the film,'' Nat explained.

Each job taught him more, and when Warner Bros. bought their own chain of theaters, Nat was recommended as a contracts person. He got another raise to $20 per week. From those small beginnings he eventually progressed to vice president and general manager before joining National General Theaters (now Mann Theaters) in 1968.

Bea, who served as president of Variety Club for Women in New York, said their association with Variety Club has taken them all over the world. They've had lunch in London with Prince Charles, Prince Philip and Princess Margaret. In Monaco, they dined with Prince Rainier and Princess Grace.

``We've entertained at home (for) a lot of people in the industry,'' Bea said, and then remembered a family incident with an outfit she bought in the 1950s for a special occasion.

``I decided to splurge with a Norman Norell in New York and went to his showroom,'' she said. Spending the most money she had ever spent on a dress, Bea decided on a ``short, white chiffon dress, very ethereal.''

When she arrived at the affair, ``There were six of us in the same dress.'' All the women had a sense of humor about it and ``formed a chorus line,'' Bea remembered.

Married 61 years, the Fellmans have three children and eight grandchildren, and Bea says they are ``well represented'' in the entertainment industry. Son Dan is executive vice president of Warner Bros. Distribution. Two grandsons are in the industry as well.

They both enjoy being involved, but Nat said they ``would like to just sit back and take it easy.'' He chuckled when he thought back to all the times he's been part of charity organizations. ``Every time you make a suggestion, they make you chairman.''

MEMO: Victoria Giraud welcomes comments and suggestions for columns. Call her at [phone].

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Photo: (color) The Los Angeles Boys & Girls Club recently p aid tribute to Nat and Bea Fellman.

Jeremy Greene/Special to the Daily News