Melinda Saxe is a magician from Las Vegas, Nevada, best known for her television performances and Las Vegas stage shows in which she was billed as "The First Lady of Magic". She is often associated with the "Drill of Death" illusion, which was a signature trick developed for her by André Kole. Although derided by some critics as a stereotypical blonde who achieved success because of her looks, Saxe is also respected by many in the magic business as a highly professional and likeable performer. She is currently on a break and not performing.
Early life
Saxe was born in Tennessee on March 6, 1965, to band leader Richard Saxe and dancer/show producer Bonnie Saxe. Many sources cite Saxe's birthplace as Las Vegas, however she was born in a small town in Tennessee. At the age of three, Saxe moved to Las Vegas, after her mother, Bonnie, landed a spot as a showgirl in the Folies Bergere show at the Tropicana. Saxe had an older sister, Suzanne, and a younger brother, David Saxe. Saxe became interested in magic at the age of 16, and would practice it all day long from that point on. Saxe graduated from Bonanza High School in Las Vegas as a junior in 1982. At the age of 17, she joined Siegfried & Roy's magic show as a dancer.
Career
Her self-styled title, "The First Lady of Magic", originated as the billing for the various shows she presented in a succession of Las Vegas venues. Saxe is the first woman magician to be performing in Las Vegas. Saxe starred in her first show at the Bourbon Street Hotel and Casino, when she was 19 years old. Moving on from Bourbon Street, Saxe began a family friendly magic show at Las Vegas' Landmark Hotel and Casino in May 1988, under the title of '88 Follies Revue and renamed Follies Revue '89 the following year. During 1988, Saxe was honored at the Society of American Magicians, where she also performed. Saxe's mother was the director, producer and choreographer for Saxe's show at the Landmark, while Suzanne Saxe was a lead dancer in the show and David Saxe worked as part of the technical crew. Saxe's show at the Landmark closed in late 1989, with plans to re-open at the nearby MGM Marina hotel. At the height of her fame she was starring in big shows with large supporting casts at some of the city's best known locations. She also had a residency at Trump's Castle in Atlantic City, New Jersey and enjoyed a four-year run in her own 3,000-seat theatre in Branson, Missouri. In 1995 she was chosen by producer Gary Ouellet as one of the acts for the second of his World's Greatest Magic television specials broadcast on the NBC network. The show featured the television debut of the Drill of Death illusion, in which Saxe was chained up in front of a giant drill which appeared to advance and impale her before lifting her up and spinning her limp body high above the stage. Ouellet was again influential in promoting Saxe's career when she starred in her own special for Disney in 1997. Ouellet was producer for the show, which, like her stage shows, was titled Melinda: First Lady of Magic. She also featured in the first of Ouellet's World's Most Dangerous Magic specials in 1998, in which she escaped using levitation after being tied up and placed in a glass tank that was filled with snakes. Saxe stopped performing in 2002 saying she intended to devote herself to starting a family with her new husband. 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 Saxe.
Saxe married fellow magician Lance Burton on August 30, 1993. However, the marriage was short-lived and they divorced a year later. On June 1, 2000 she married Mark Evensvold, a managing partner in the P. F. Chang's restaurant chain. On August 24, 2003, Saxe gave birth to a son named Mason Ray, and on August 3, 2007, she had her second child, a daughter named Mallory Rose. Saxe now lives in Las Vegas. Saxe was engaged to Rich Little, but broke off the three-year relationship in 1991, saying she had discovered that he had secretly videotaped them having sex in 1988. Saxe sued Little for defamation, invasion of privacy, and inflicting emotional distress, claiming he had secretly videotaped their sexual encounters in 1988 and had joked about their relationship on stage. Little claimed the videotaping was consensual. The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court.
