Lance Burton

Burton appeared on an episode of the History channel series American Restoration, televised November 1, 2010, in which the Rick's Restorations crew repaired a lightpole at Burton's residence that had been destroyed in a windstorm.

On July 1, 2009, Burton signed a six-year contract extension with the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino (where he had performed since 1994), which would continue his contract until 2015. However, the contract was ended five years earlier than planned, and the final show was performed on September 4, 2010.

In 2006, he appeared on the Labor Day Weekend Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon.

In 2004, Burton celebrated his tenth anniversary at the Monte Carlo by introducing an illusion entitled "Solid Gold Lad", for which he used $10 million in gold.

For his Top Secret special that first aired on February 24, 1999, at Buffalo Bill's Hotel & Casino in Primm, Nevada, Burton staged an illusion in which he appeared to escape the path of a speeding roller coaster while on the tracks of "The Desperado". The Desperado is one of the tallest and fastest roller coasters in the United States – taking one minute to climb, and 3.5 seconds to descend to where he was on the tracks. He appeared to avoid the coaster by a mere tenth of a second, the trick having apparently gone wrong. After the "narrow escape", he looked at the camera and said "I was stupid...I was really stupid."

In August 1994, Burton signed a 13-year contract (the longest contract given, at that point, to any entertainer in Las Vegas history) with the Monte Carlo Resort in Las Vegas. The 1,274-seat Lance Burton Theater was built to Burton's specifications for his show, cost $27 million, and opened on June 21, 1996. Entertainment Today magazine listed it as the #1 family magic act, and during its 13-year run Burton earned an estimated $110 million.

He had a brief marriage to magician Melinda Saxe in August 1993, but they divorced shortly after.

In 1991, he produced, directed, and wrote his own show, which opened at the Hacienda Hotel and ran for five years.

In 1986, he guest starred in a fourth season episode Knight Rider titled "Deadly Knightshade" as the mastermind magician behind the murder of a Foundation trustee.

In 1986, he appeared in Nickelodeon's Halloween special Mystery Magical Special.

He performed an initial eight-week trial at the Folies Bergère show in Las Vegas, and then had his contract extended for a record-breaking nine years. In 1982, he competed at the international Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques (FISM) competition in Lausanne, Switzerland, and won the "Grand Prix" prize, (the main event of the FISM competition). He was the youngest person to ever win the main event, and the first American to do so.

Collins, a full-time magician, noticed the interest, and became his mentor when Burton was in his teens, teaching him the fundamentals of the trade. In 1977, as a teenager, Burton entered his first magic competition and won first prize. In 1980, shortly after his 20th birthday, he was awarded a "Gold Medal of Excellence" from the International Brotherhood of Magicians. Soon after, Burton moved to Southern California, where within a week he appeared on The Tonight Show (on October 28, 1981). Through the course of Burton's career he was invited back for a total of ten performances while Johnny Carson was host, and another ten performances during Jay Leno's tenure. Burton has also appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

William Lance Burton (born March 10, 1960 in Columbia, Kentucky) is an American stage magician. He performed more than 15,000 shows in Las Vegas for over 5,000,000 people. In 2010 he ended his 31-year Vegas show.