Question of the Day - 18 September 2024

A Las Vegas local, Melinda Saxe, now 59, comes from a showbiz family. Her mother was a dancer-turned-producer and her brother David Saxe is a prolific show producer, namesake of the Saxe Theater at Miracle Mile Shops.

Under the name "The First Lady of Magic," Melinda started out at a small theater in Las Vegas' Bourbon Street hotel-casino at the age of 20 and went on to have her own residencies at the Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, her own 3,000-seat theater in Branson, Missouri, and the Venetian in Las Vegas, plus movie and television appearances, including the "World’s Greatest Magic II" and "World's Most Dangerous Magic" specials. In 1998, the International Magicians' Society named her "Magician of the Year."

Melinda’s signature illusion, and the reason for her inclusion in "World's Most Dangerous Magic," was an act called "The Drill of Death." A "penetration illusion" (yes, the double-entendres fly around this one), it was an act developed especially for her in which she was apparently impaled on a massive drill bit.

Saxe was once engaged to comedian Rich Little, but broke off the three-year relationship in 1991, saying she'd discovered that he secretly videotaped them having sex. Saxe sued Little for defamation, invasion of privacy, and inflicting emotional distress. Little claimed the videotaping was consensual. The lawsuit was settled out of court.

In 1993, Melinda married to fellow magician Lance Burton, after she proposed to him live on television (presumably they were dating at the time), but the marriage was short-lived (less than a year).

In 2000, she married Mark Evensvold, having been set up on a date by her sister. Evensfold, a managing partner in the P F Chang's restaurant chain, apparently had no idea who she was and had never seen her perform. Two years later in September 2002, she retired from her gig at the Venetian in order to raise a family with Evensfold. They have two children, a boy and a girl.

In 2012, Melinda returned to the stage in the Planet Hollywood resort's V: The Ultimate Variety Show, one of several Las Vegas Strip productions helmed by her brother David.

Apparently, Melinda and her family lived in Scottsdale for a time, but all the updates we found on her say that she now lives a quiet private life away from the spotlight back in Las Vegas.