Biography of Melina KanakaredesMelina Eleni Kanakaredes (born April 23, 1967) is a Daytime Emmy-nominated American actress, most widely known for two starring roles on U.S. prime-time television: playing Det. Stella Bonasera on CSI: NY and earlier, playing Dr. Sydney Hansen on Providence.
Kanakaredes' first major 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 Daytime Emmy Awards for her portrayal of Eleni.
Her most high-profile roles on television were as series protagonist Dr. Sydney Hansen on Providence, which ran for five seasons (from 1999-2002), and since 2004 in a leading role on the CBS show CSI: NY, as detective Stella Bonasera.
Her other television credits include NYPD Blue, Northern Exposure, Due South, Oz, The Practice, a cameo in MTV's The Ben Stiller Show, and the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation of Saint Maybe.
Her appearances in film include The Long Kiss Goodnight as Trin and 15 Minutes as Nicolette Karas, the girlfriend of Robert De Niro's character. She was considered for the lead role in My Big Fat Greek Wedding but had to turn it down due to pregnancy.
Kanakaredes was born in Akron, Ohio to a Greek American family. She is a second-generation American and is fluent in Greek. Her two maternal uncles own and run a candy store in Akron called "Temo's Candy Company", a chocolatier established in its current location by Kanakaredes' great uncle Christ Temo, an American of Greek and Albanian heritage. Kanakaredes' sister is an attorney practicing in Akron.
Kanakaredes graduated from Firestone High School in Akron. She attended Ohio State University briefly, then transferred to Point Park College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Point Park in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in theater arts.
She married Peter Constantinides on September 6, 1992, having met him at Ohio State in 1989. The couple have two daughters, Zoe and Karina Eleni. She and her husband, a former restaurant consultant, own "Tria Greek Kuzina" in Powell, Ohio.
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