A Downbeat Requiem for Music Producer’s Son

Robert Marcucci Jr.’s death drew laughs from the gang members who allegedly chased him down and bludgeoned him with a concrete block. But Marcucci’s troubled life had long ago moved his family to tears.

The son of a Beverly Hills music and film producer, Marcucci died Monday evening a drug addict on a Mid-City street corner. Pursued by several gang members who confronted him along Rimpau Boulevard, Marcucci was struck in the head with a concrete block and left screaming for help. His attackers stood over him, police said, chuckling as he writhed. He died a few hours later at a nearby hospital.

The 38-year-old struggled with drug abuse for much of his life, a struggle that also embroiled his family. For a while, he cleaned up. With the help of his father, he opened a drug-rehab center. But he fell back into the drug life a few years ago, and family members said they couldn’t do anything to help him.

“When people are loaded, they are not the same people,” said his wife, Denyce Marcucci. “It’s a wasted life. He left behind a lot of people that care about him.”

Marcucci grew up in the shadow of father Bob Marcucci, 73, the famed producer who helped launch the careers of Frankie Avalon and Fabian and produced several movies. The producer’s life was used as the basis for the 1980 film “The Idol Maker” -- a fictionalized account of his efforts to manage and promote the teen heartthrobs.

In a 1980 interview with the Washington Post, the father described then-15-year-old Bobby as hoping to become an entertainment lawyer, but said the teen also had a penchant for performing. “The funny thing is -- he’s got a voice,” Marcucci told the paper. “But I would never push him in that direction.”

On Wednesday, Marcucci said he had hoped that one day his son would permanently overcome drug problems and use his life as a model for others.

“I just don’t want his death to be in vain,” the elder Marcucci said. “We just told him two months ago: You have the greatest story about drugs.”

Police say Marcucci Jr. was in an area well-known for crack-cocaine sales Monday afternoon.

About 6:40 p.m. a group of suspected gang members chased him from Rimpau Boulevard to the 4800 block of St. Elmo Drive, police said. Marcucci fell as he was trying to escape and was struck in the head by a block that one of the gang members threw as he screamed for help. The senior Marcucci believes his son was searching for drugs at the time of his death. However, LAPD Det. Frank Carrillo said it was unclear whether Marcucci knew his assailants or that he was buying drugs on that particular evening.

Police have detained one suspect and are searching for others.

Marcucci’s troubles, his father said, began at age 18, when he was discovered using marijuana. His parents sent him to a 30-day program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Specialists there told his parents that more treatment was needed, so they sent him to another program in Hawaii.

Family members said Marcucci was clean and productive for about six months when he returned two years later, but he returned to using drugs. This time, it was crack cocaine. His family said he would go missing for days.

What followed was a string of more rehabilitation clinics.

“I just tried to get him into different [rehab] places,” said the father. “It made me realize it wasn’t the houses, it was himself. They help you. They give you support and strength, but it all winds up to you. You have to be the one that has to do it.”

In 1999, two years after returning from an extended rehabilitation program in Northern California, it appeared that the younger Marcucci had finally overcome his addiction.

After returning home, his family believed that he could stay sober if he worked with others who were recovering. As a result, they established Odessa House Inc. and made Marcucci the director. He oversaw 15 clients and was known for his ability to calm people down, family members said.

It was also around this time that Marcucci met the woman he would marry.

“He was one of the kindest human beings that I know,” Denyce Marcucci said. “When we were first together he would always give to anybody begging money. He said, ‘Denyce, this is my way of making amends for the money I spent on drugs.’ ”

The couple planned to celebrate the fourth anniversary of him being clean on Dec. 12, 2000. But a few days before, he missed a scheduled talk to a group of recovering drug addicts at a 12-step meeting in Cheviot Hills.

When he was still missing a few days later, the family knew he had relapsed.

The couple separated, and Marcucci moved back in with his father and brother at their Beverly Hills townhome.

His father said Marcucci spent the last two years of his life on and off drugs. The elder Marcucci said he always knew his son was using when he would disappear for days at a time.

Marcucci last saw his son Friday, sitting on the couch in the family’s living room.

“He was sitting here with me,” the father said. “He looked fine.”

The weekend went by, and Tuesday morning the father got the call from authorities.

“Why he went back there, I’ll never know.”