Remembering Marc Becker

One month ago today, Marc Becker, a longtime entertainment industry executive, passed away from cancer at age 37.

Becker was a radiant pillar of the Los Angeles community — a community that is reeling with shock and heartbreak over his passing. He led his life with love and gratitude, and a contagious enthusiasm to connect people together. If you know someone who was a teenager in Los Angeles’ Jewish community during the mid-late 1990s and early 2000s, there’s a good chance they knew Becker.

At his funeral on August 30th at the Mount Sinai Simi Valley Cemetery, over 800 people came to pay their respects. Becker’s family said that it was the largest memorial service in the history of the cemetery since its founding in 1997. Friends and family flew in from around the country to be there for the person who was always there for them. As members of Los Angeles’ Jewish community learned of Becker’s passing, they also learned of the mutual friends who, too, are shocked to learn that such a wonderful human is now gone. It’s a testament to how many lives Becker touched in a life cut too short.

Becker served in numerous positions in the entertainment industry, most recently as the Chief Executive Officer of The Tangent Agency, where he worked since 2015. Prior to Tangent, Becker worked for seven years as an Executive on the Global Brand Marketing team at Universal Pictures. But of all of Becker’s many accomplishments, his older brother Jeremy Weiner said that Becker’s greatest legacy is his wife Lindsay and their seven-month-old son Jett.

Becker was born on May 5, 1986 in Los Angeles to Rosanne and Norman Becker. His older brothers, then 12-year-old Brian Weiner and then 11-year-old Jeremy Weiner, loved him so much that they fought over who would change newborn Marky’s diapers — their mother had to draw up a schedule. They entertained his curious questions and tried to teach him everything. Jeremy described his little brother as his “forever plus one”; If he was invited to a playdate, little Marky came too.

In fact, on his third date with future wife Michelle, Jeremy insisted that she meet his little brother. Looking back, Michelle said that Becker was the little brother she never realized she always wanted. He grew up in a home of love and support. And Becker put it all back into everyone he met.

“We all poured so much love into Marc so that he would develop into a confident, kind and uninhibited man,” Brian said. “And we watched with joy and pride as we saw Marc enter any room and lift the room. It reminded me of our Papa Goldsmith, my mother’s father. He too had a similar way in magnetism of showing others that he is genuine and cares.”

As a youth, Becker attended Sinai Akiba Academy. Jeremy recalled his little brother’s smile as he looked back while marching into his first day of kindergarten while singing Sir Mix-a-Lot. He would become a Bar Mitzvah at Sinai on April 17, 1999, and graduate the following year.

“He somehow made you feel like you were part of a special and exclusive club, and yet magically, paradoxically, he also made each and every person feel absolutely included,” Jonah Platt, Becker’s friend and fellow graduate of Sinai Akiba in 2000, said. “Marc had room for everyone in his heart. His hand was forever outstretched. All you had to do was take it and you’d find yourself in his warm embrace. And with Marc, there was never any expectation or conditions. He gave his heart away freely asking nothing in return except whatever you were willing to give. His default setting was to give you the maximum of himself that you were open enough to receive. Most of us have some kind of wall up or require a certain demonstration of character or loyalty before we let people in. Not Marc. To know Marc was to love him because to know him at all was to know him completely.”

“Marc had room for everyone in his heart. His hand was forever outstretched. All you had to do was take it and you’d find yourself in his warm embrace.” -Jonah Platt

As a teenager, Becker also participated in United Synagogue Youth, and kept close contact with many of the friends he made there. During his freshman year at Milken Community School, he played varsity baseball for the Wildcats. Danny Rubin, one of Becker’s best friends, recalled that before they even had driver’s licenses, Becker started a business to sell ice cream at the beach in Santa Monica. It was one of the many entrepreneurial goals Becker envisioned and sought through to success. This one, albeit, without a permit. Still, Rubin recalled how they would pick up ice cream and dry ice at Costco with Becker’s father Norman, then take the bus to Santa Monica, and sell it to beachgoers. And it wasn’t just a teenager running a lemonade stand. Becker kept detailed records on what products sold, which products didn’t and adjusted accordingly. Rubin said that it was Becker’s ability to truly connect with people which made that enterprise successful.

“Marc was drawn to the person having a bad day, the shy person, the person who for whatever reason languished in the corner of a room, or the person who couldn’t even show up at all,” Rubin said. “He’d find wherever they were and pour out a bit of empathy from his overflowing cup.”

After graduating from Milken in 2004, Becker attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison. On his first day at The Statesider dormitory, he met yet another Jeremy who would love him like a brother — Jeremy Winter.

“I always say that I won the lottery getting Marc as my random freshman roommate 19 years ago,” Winter said. Even though they’d never live in the same city again, Winter and Becker remained as close. Winter, now residing in Chicago, was one of the many people who flew to Los Angeles on August 30th for just a few hours to help lay their dear friend to rest. “He was the kindest, most thoughtful, vivacious person,” Winter continued. “There will be a hole in my heart that will never again be filled.”

Becker returned to Los Angeles after college and began work at Universal Pictures. At Universal, where he’d help work on film marketing campaigns across the company’s media platforms and theme parks, his talents were noticed. He worked on the “Fast & Furious” franchise and was integral in the successful launch of the “Despicable Me” franchise in 2010. From 2011-2014, Becker earned his MBA at the USC Marshall School of Business—all while still working at Universal.

As Becker’s professional resume grew, so did his family titles. Literally from day one, he thrived at being the best uncle he could be. When Becker’s niece Abigail was born, she was rushed to the NICU. After friends and family who offered support at the hospital headed home for the night, he held his sister-in-law Michelle’s hospital bag and said he would be staying the night to be there for them. He was always a source of support and positivity when times were tough. Friends say that he was the first to show up for birthdays (often calling at the stroke of midnight) and would be the first shoulder you can cry on during a shiva.

When his nieces and nephews Abigail, Sophie, Jacob and Ethan were born, Becker surprised each of them (and their parents) with a seven-foot-tall teddy bear that took up half a room. He never missed an opportunity to create special moments with them. He’d dress up and trick-or-treat with Abigail and Jacob, only to do it again a short time later that day with Sophie in another part of town. He took Abigail and her mother Michelle to the “Despicable Me 2” premiere at Universal in 2013, and brought Sophie and her mother Jodi along too when “Minions” premiered in 2015.

That same year, Becker became CEO of The Tangent Agency. Under Becker’s leadership, Tangent became “an industry-leading creative powerhouse working with major studios, including Warner Bros, Mattel, Disney and Netflix.” No matter how busy he was, Becker continued to value the importance of mentorship. In a 2019 interview with Idea Mensch, Becker said that he was a “big proponent of mentorship and sharing my experiences whenever possible, so I NEVER turn down an informational interview.” He would also take the time to participate in Milken School’s career day.

When Tangent announced Becker’s passing, they wrote, “If you have worked with us over the years, you have no doubt gotten to experience the larger-than-life presence that was Marc. He was the life of the party, with a million-watt smile that could light up any room. So full of energy, passion, and life — he had a genuine joy not only for the work he did, but more-so for the people he connected with. Ever since joining the Tangent team and taking on the role of CEO, he poured his time, enthusiasm, and heart into his work and his work-family. He changed our lives forever, and we will never forget him.”

Rabbi David Wolpe traveled from Boston to Los Angeles just to officiate in person at Becker’s funeral. In his time as Senior Rabbi at Sinai, Wolpe presided over Becker’s bar mitzvah and his marriage to Lindsay. Wolpe was also at the bris of their son Jett in February of this year.

In his eulogy, Wolpe said, “What everybody remembers about [Becker] is what Lindsay called yesterday, ‘the magic of Marc.’”  Rubin’s eulogy echoed Wolpe’s sentiment.

“Marc had this innate ability to make everyone else feel like the only person in the room, but Lindsay, his wife, made Marc feel like the only person in the room. It’s rare that someone could find such a perfect compliment.”

When Becker first met Lindsay Firestone at a Burn60 Class, he walked right up to her and asked her out. He proposed marriage to Lindsay in April 2019 in Palm Springs.

They got married in a pandemic-reduced ceremony on the beach in Malibu on May 9, 2020, with only an officiant and a witness. The world continued to grapple with the COVID-19 Pandemic over the subsequent year. During this time, Becker and Lindsay’s world came to a halt when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Over the following two years, Wolpe said that Lindsay cared for Marc “in every possible way — in ways you should not have to care for a partner in your 30s nor in your 80s, but she did and she didn’t mind because it was Marc.” Wolpe added that almost every time they spoke Becker told him how blessed he was for he and Lindsay to have found each other.

Becker’s brother Brian said that when Becker was diagnosed with cancer, “it hit [everyone] like a freight train — everyone except Marc. Never once did he complain or allow the terrible and frightening diagnosis to change his mindset. To the contrary, Marc was often the support system for everyone else. So many friends have walked through the doors of Marc and Lindsay’s home with tears in their eyes saying how much of an impact Marc had on their lives. Through it all, Marc showed only his love and gratitude for their support.”

When Becker’s family called Wolpe with grim updates about his condition, he then would get in touch with Becker “while bracing to hear how hurt and scared he was.” Becker would tell Wolpe, “We had a setback today, but everything’s going to be great any time now. We have a new treatment.” There was always a new treatment and when that treatment failed, Becker would say, “They’ll try something else.”

At the first night of Becker’s Shiva, his friend Joe Yomtoubian told mourners that you beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live.

Becker fought the illness with everything he had, as he had done with any challenge he ever faced. The young couple still wouldn’t let it stop them from having the wedding they dreamed of with friends and family. When the big day finally came unobstructed, October 15, 2021, the traces of Becker’s cancer battle were not readily apparent — his hair was shorter than usual. But his smile and spirit were as big as ever and radiated through everyone present.

In the rooftop ceremony, Lindsay spoke her vows to her husband: “Despite the world’s challenges that affected our wedding plans and the incredible personal challenges that changed our lives, we persevered with extraordinary strength and extraordinary love. Marc, you always find the silver lining. Your positivity is infectious. You bring this special kind of energy and excitement into every room that you walk into. Your sincerity, compassionate nature and commitment to doing what is right, always, are only a few characteristics that make you truly exceptional. And among the many people that you have an impact on, there’s me.”

Becker said his vows to Lindsay, “Well, here we are, the main event finally surrounded by our family, our friends, our loved ones, our nearest and dearest. Very few, and hopefully little to no couples — oh, here it comes,” he said, fighting back tears “have had their bond tested the way we have. … I have to keep putting in jokes so I stop crying.”

A year later, in October 2022, Becker and Lindsay announced that “Baby Boy Becker” would be coming into the world in February 2023. On Valentine’s Day 2023, Jett Isaac Becker was born.

Becker was a proud father and an excited parent. Danny Rubin said that “While in the hospital, [Marc] said he couldn’t wait to hear Jett say, ‘I love you.’ And though Marc never got to hear those words, [Rubin knew] he felt it in his soul and left the legacy of love.”

Rubin said that during Becker’s last days when he could barely move his lips, he wrote the words ‘thank you,’ because that was who he was, and he knew that’s what his dear friend Danny needed to hear.

Wolpe encouraged those who knew Becker best to write down their favorite memories of Becker and send them to the family for Jett to have a thick book of stories about his father when he’s older, “even if it was the slightest encounter.”

As those “Magic of Marc” stories pile up, his peers in Los Angeles and beyond will have to carry on living with their always positive, super kind and generous social engineer living in their hearts and memories. His friend Jonah Platt offered an apropos coping mechanism for all those connected to Becker to endure this new reality without Becker in it by embodying Becker’s virtues every day:

“Marc, I promise to honor you and our friendship and your gifts the best way I know how: By paying it forward and continuing to love and support this enormous family you have built by making sure your beautiful son Jett knows the mensch his father was.”

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Contributions in tribute to Marc Eliot Becker can be made to the UCLA Brain Cancer Research Fund: https://giving.ucla.edu/Standard/NetDonate.aspx?SiteNum=168 

To indicate that the gift is in tribute to Marc Eliot Becker, click the “Tribute Gift” check box under “Gift Options” and enter Marc’s name.