Melina Kanakaredes Biography / Pictures

Melina Kanakaredes (born April 23, 1967 in Akron, Ohio) is a Daytime Emmy Award-nominated Greek-American actress, but she is most widely known for two starring roles on U.S. prime-time television drama series: playing Det. Stella Bonasera in CSI: NY and playing Dr. Sydney Hansen in Providence.

Biography

Kanakaredes's first television role was on the daytime drama Guiding Light, originating the role of Eleni Andros Spaulding Cooper from 1991 to 1995. She was nominated twice for a Daytime Emmy Award for her portrayal of Eleni.

Melina Kanakaredes' most high-profile roles on television were as the series protagonist Dr. Sydney Hansen on Providence, which ran for five seasons (1999–2002), and since 2004 in a leading role on the CBS drama series CSI: NY as Detective Stella Bonasera.

Melina Kanakaredes' other television credits include NYPD Blue (in a recurring role as reporter Benita Alden during that show's second season), Northern Exposure, Due South, Oz (TV series), The Practice, MTV's The Ben Stiller Show, and a Hallmark Hall of Fame adaptation of the Anne Tyler novel Saint Maybe.

Melina Kanakaredes' appearances in movies include The Long Kiss Goodnight as Trin and 15 Minutes as Nicolette Karas, the girlfriend of Robert De Niro's character. Melina Kanakaredes was considered for the lead role in My Big Fat Greek Wedding but had to turn it down due to her pregnancy.

Melina was born in Akron, Ohio, in a Greek-American family. She is a second-generation Greek-American and she is fluent in Greek. Her two maternal uncles own and run a candy store in Akron called "Temo's Candy Company," a chocolate store established in its current location by Kanakaredes' great-uncle Christ Temo. Melina's sister is an attorney in Akron, Ohio.

Melina Kanakaredes graduated from the Firestone High School in Akron. Melina Kanakaredes attended the Ohio State University for a short time, and then she transferred to the Point Park College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Point Park in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater arts.

Melina Kanakaredes she married Peter Constantinides on September 6, 1992. The couple has two daughters, Zoe and Karina Eleni. She and her husband, a former restaurant consultant, own the "Tria Greek Kuzina" in Powell, Ohio.