Melina Eleni Kanakaredes (born April 23, 1967) is an American actress best known for her starring role as Dr. Sydney Hansen on the television show Providence. She currently stars in the CBS show NY as Det. Stella Bonasera, alongside Gary Sinise as Det. Mac Taylor.

Kanakaredes was born in Akron, Ohio to a Greek American family. She is a second-generation Greek and is fluent in the Greek language. Her family owns and runs a candy store in Akron called "Temo's Candy Company," and she and her husband own a Greek restaurant in the Columbus, Ohio, suburb of Powell, Ohio.

She graduated from Firestone High School in Akron and attended the Ohio State University, where she competed in synchronized swimming and was first runner-up in the Miss Ohio pageant. She transferred to Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater.

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