Melina Kanakaredes

Melina Kanakaredes is a Greek-American actress known for roles in American television dramas. She began on the daytime serial Guiding Light, where she created the part of Eleni Andros from 1991 to 1995 and received two Daytime Emmy nominations. Born in Akron, Ohio, she made her stage debut at eight and earned a theater arts degree from Point Park College in 1989. Her best known television work includes Dr. Sydney Hansen on Providence from 1999 to 2002 and Detective Stella Bonasera on CSI: NY for six seasons, a role she left in 2010. She also appeared on NYPD Blue, Oz, The Practice, The Resident and voiced parts in Blood of Zeus. Her films include The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), 15 Minutes (2001), Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010) and Snitch (2013). On stage she played Sally Bowles in Cabaret in 1998 and appeared in My Child: Mothers of War in 2015.