McGraw was born in Nicosia, Cyprus to American parents. The youngest of three daughters, she grew up in Cambridge and Dover in the Boston area. Her father served as a diplomat for the Agency of International Development before becoming an executive with a major hotel in Boston. She attended the Buckingham Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge and got her start in acting with the Boston Children's Read more...

After attending Bennington College, McGraw was accepted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London (one of only seven women admitted in her year). Theatrical performances in the West End and elsewhere in Britain followed, among them Don Carlos, The Foreigner and Twelfth Night. She returned to America in 1990.

McGraw's first major on-screen role was as Detective Cydavia "Cyd" Madison on Read more...

Melinda married composer/recording artist Steve Pierson on 14 October 2000, and has one daughter, Lucy.