Melina Eleni 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.

Kanakaredes' first TV 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 the Daytime Emmy Awards for her portrayal of Eleni.

Her most high-profile roles on television were as the series protagonist Dr. Sydney Hansen on Providence (TV series), which ran for five TV seasons (1999–2002), and Read more...

Kanakaredes was born in Akron, Ohio, in a Greek-American family. She is a second-generation 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 Read more...