{{Short description|American film producer (1929–2002)}} {{other people||Michael Todd (disambiguation)}} {{more footnotes|date=November 2012}} {{Infobox person | name = Mike Todd Jr. | image = Mike Todd, Jr. 1958.JPG | caption = In 1958. | birth_date = {{birth date|1929|10|08}} | birth_place = Los Angeles, California | death_date = {{death date and age|2002|05|05|1929|10|08}} | death_place = County Carlow, Ireland | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Sarah Jane Weaver|1953|1972|reason=died}} * {{marriage|Susan McCarthy|1972}} }} | children = 8 }}
'''Michael Henry Todd Jr.''' (October 8, 1929 – May 5, 2002) was an American film producer. He was involved in innovations such as the movie format Smell-o-vision, and the production of a racially-integrated minstrel show for the 1964 World's Fair.
==Early life== Todd was born to movie producer and cinema pioneer Mike Todd and his first wife, Bertha Freshman Todd.<ref name=Back>{{cite news|last=Cohn|first=Art|title=The Nine Lives of Michael Todd: A Hustler, He Never Looked Back|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=PRLG7g5oK-wC&dat=19581110&printsec=frontpage&hl=en|accessdate=January 5, 2017|newspaper=Beaver Valley Times|page=3|date=November 19, 1958}}</ref> He was also a stepson of Elizabeth Taylor even though he was older than his famous stepmother through his father's third marriage.<ref>{{cite web|title=Oliver Michael Todd in Conversation with Thomas Hauerslev|url=http://www.in70mm.com/news/2014/oliver/index.htm|website=In 70 MM|accessdate=18 July 2017}}</ref>
==Career== Todd was vice president of his father's company, Cinerama, and was responsible for filming the famous roller-coaster scene from the company's debut film, ''This is Cinerama'' (1952). He is also known for introducing the short-lived movie format Smell-o-vision, used in the 1960 film ''Scent of Mystery'', which he produced. It was re-released as ''Holiday in Spain'' without smells.<ref name="Distillations">{{cite journal|last1=Gross|first1=Daniel A.|title=The Third Sense|journal=Distillations |date=2017|volume=2|issue=4|pages=6–7|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/the-third-sense|accessdate=26 March 2018}}</ref><ref name="IOA">{{cite web|title=Scent of Mystery|url=http://artandolfaction.com/projects/scent-of-mystery/|website=Institute for Art and Olfaction|date=15 August 2015|accessdate=17 July 2017}}</ref>
{{external media | width = 210px | float = right | headerimage= | video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HPip9_YeqY "Mae Barnes, Lola Falana, Louis Gossett Jr, America Be Seated, 1964 World's Fair"], Ed Sullivan Show | video2 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7jNGsLEn2U "Holiday in Spain (trailer)"] }}
Following in his father's footsteps of producing attractions for World's Fairs, Todd Jr. produced a racially integrated minstrel show for the 1964 New York World's Fair, called "America, Be Seated". It closed after two performances.<ref name="Lewis"/>
==Personal life and death== Todd was first married [1953–1972] to Sarah Jane Weaver, and they had six children: Cyrus, Susan, Sarah, Eliza Haselton, Daniel, and Oliver Todd. Later, then married [1972–2002] to Susan McCarthy, Todd had two more children: Del and James.<ref name="Lewis"/>
In 1983, Todd and his wife Susan McCarthy wrote a biography of Todd Sr. called ''A Valuable Property: The Life Story of Michael Todd''. ({{ISBN|0-87795-491-7}})<ref name="Lewis"/>
On May 5, 2002, Michael Todd died in Ireland of lung cancer, at the age of 72, with all of his children and his second wife surviving him.<ref name="Lewis">{{cite news|last1=Lewis|first1=Paul|title=Michael Todd Jr., 72, a Creator Of Smell-o-Vision for Movies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/08/arts/michael-todd-jr-72-a-creator-of-smell-o-vision-for-movies.html|accessdate=18 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=May 8, 2002}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, Mike Jr.}} Category:1929 births Category:2002 deaths Category:Film producers from California Category:Film people from Los Angeles Category:Deaths from lung cancer in the Republic of Ireland Category:20th-century American Jews Category:21st-century American Jews