Melina Kanakaredes
Encyclopedia
Melina Eleni Kanakaredes Constantinides is an American actress. She is widely known for two starring roles on U.S. prime-time television drama series; playing Detective Stella Bonasera
in CSI: NY
and portraying Dr. Sydney Hansen in Providence
.
CBS confirmed in July 2010 that Kanakaredes would not be returning for the seventh season of CSI: NY.
, the daughter of Constance "Connie" Temo (b. 1936), a candy company owner, and Harry Kanakaredes (b. 1928), an insurance salesman. She is a second-generation Greek-American and speaks 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' grandfather Christ Temo. She has two sisters: Cornelia "Lia" (b. 1961) and Aretta Kanakaredes (b. 1962).
At age 8, Kanakaredes made her stage debut in a production of "Tom Sawyer" at Weathervane Playhouse in Akron, Ohio. She graduated from the Firestone High School
in Akron. She attended Ohio State University
for a short time, and then transferred to Point Park College
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
, where she performed roles in the professional theatre scene
there, including the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar
at Pittsburgh Musical Theater
. She graduated from Point Park in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts
degree in theater arts.
, originating the role of Eleni Andros Spaulding Cooper
from 1991 to 1995. She was nominated twice for a Daytime Emmy Award for her portrayal of Eleni.
Her most high-profile roles on television were as the series protagonist Dr. Sydney Hansen on Providence
, which ran for five seasons between 1999 and 2002, and as Det. Stella Bonasera
on the CBS drama series CSI: NY
. Kanakaredes left CSI: NY in 2010, after six seasons on the program.
Her other television credits include NYPD Blue
(in a recurring role as reporter Benita Alden during that show's second season), Northern Exposure
, Due South
, Oz
, The Practice
, MTV's The Ben Stiller Show
, and a Hallmark Hall of Fame
adaptation of the Anne Tyler
novel Saint Maybe
.
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 her pregnancy.
She played the role of the Greek Goddess Athena
in Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.
, but it has since closed. When she was once asked why she doesn't use her husband's last name professionally, she stated, "It's even more difficult to pronounce than my maiden name."
See also Famous Greek Americans
Stella Bonasera
Stella Bonasera is a fictional character and protagonist on the CBS crime drama CSI: NY, portrayed by actress Melina Kanakaredes prior to season 7, at which point the character was written out of the show due to Kanakaredes not renewing her contract...
in CSI: NY
CSI: NY
CSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes...
and portraying Dr. Sydney Hansen in Providence
Providence (TV series)
Providence is an American drama series that aired on NBC starring Melina Kanakaredes. The show ran for five seasons from January 8, 1999 until December 20, 2002.-Synopsis:The show revolves around Dr...
.
CBS confirmed in July 2010 that Kanakaredes would not be returning for the seventh season of CSI: NY.
Early life
Kanakaredes was born in Akron, OhioAkron, Ohio
Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
, the daughter of Constance "Connie" Temo (b. 1936), a candy company owner, and Harry Kanakaredes (b. 1928), an insurance salesman. She is a second-generation Greek-American and speaks Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
. 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' grandfather Christ Temo. She has two sisters: Cornelia "Lia" (b. 1961) and Aretta Kanakaredes (b. 1962).
At age 8, Kanakaredes made her stage debut in a production of "Tom Sawyer" at Weathervane Playhouse in Akron, Ohio. She graduated from the Firestone High School
Firestone High School
Harvey S. Firestone High School is a public high school located on the northwest side of Akron, Ohio. It is one of seven high schools in the Akron Public Schools district. The high school currently offers programs such as the Visual and Performing Arts, International Baccalaureate Program, and...
in Akron. She attended Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
for a short time, and then transferred to Point Park College
Point Park University
Point Park University is a liberal arts university located in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Formerly known as Point Park College, the school name was revised in 2004 to reflect the number of graduate programs being offered....
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, where she performed roles in the professional theatre scene
Theatre in Pittsburgh
Theatre in Pittsburgh has existed professionally since the early 1800s and has continued to expand, having emerged as an important cultural force in the city over the past 30 years.-History:...
there, including the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
at Pittsburgh Musical Theater
Pittsburgh Musical Theater
Pittsburgh Musical Theater is a professional theatre company located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1990 with the purpose of providing high-quality productions of musicals featuring local professionals at affordable prices to residents, the company has since expanded with the educational...
. She graduated from Point Park in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in theater arts.
Television
Kanakaredes' first television role was on the daytime drama Guiding LightGuiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
, originating the role of Eleni Andros Spaulding Cooper
Eleni Andros Cooper
Eleni Andros Cooper is a fictional character on the soap opera Guiding Light. She was originally portrayed by actress Melina Kanakaredes from April 19, 1991 to March 1, 1995. She was temporarily replaced by actress Wendy Kaplan from December 1994 to January 1995 on a recurring basis...
from 1991 to 1995. She was nominated twice for a Daytime Emmy Award for her portrayal of Eleni.
Her most high-profile roles on television were as the series protagonist Dr. Sydney Hansen on Providence
Providence (TV series)
Providence is an American drama series that aired on NBC starring Melina Kanakaredes. The show ran for five seasons from January 8, 1999 until December 20, 2002.-Synopsis:The show revolves around Dr...
, which ran for five seasons between 1999 and 2002, and as Det. Stella Bonasera
Stella Bonasera
Stella Bonasera is a fictional character and protagonist on the CBS crime drama CSI: NY, portrayed by actress Melina Kanakaredes prior to season 7, at which point the character was written out of the show due to Kanakaredes not renewing her contract...
on the CBS drama series CSI: NY
CSI: NY
CSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes...
. Kanakaredes left CSI: NY in 2010, after six seasons on the program.
Her other television credits include NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
(in a recurring role as reporter Benita Alden during that show's second season), Northern Exposure
Northern Exposure
Northern Exposure is an American television series that ran on CBS from 1990 to 1995, with a total of 110 episodes.-Overview:The series was given a pair of consecutive Peabody Awards: in 1991–92 for the show's "depict[ion] in a comedic and often poetic way, [of] the cultural clash between a...
, Due South
Due South
Due South is a Canadian crime drama series with elements of comedy. The series was created by Paul Haggis, produced by Alliance Communications, and stars Paul Gross, David Marciano, and latterly Callum Keith Rennie...
, Oz
Oz (TV series)
Oz is an American television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series' 56 episodes . It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons...
, The Practice
The Practice
The Practice is an American legal drama created by David E. Kelley centering on the partners and associates at a Boston law firm. Running for eight seasons from 1997 to 2004, the show won the Emmy in 1998 and 1999 for Best Drama Series, and spawned the successful and lighter spin-off series Boston...
, MTV's The Ben Stiller Show
The Ben Stiller Show
The Ben Stiller Show was the name of two sketch comedy television shows that aired on MTV from 1990 to 1991, and then on Fox from September 1992 to January 1993. The Fox show starred Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, Janeane Garofalo and Bob Odenkirk. Character actor John F. O'Donohue also appeared in every...
, and a Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...
adaptation of the Anne Tyler
Anne Tyler
Anne Tyler is an American novelist.Tyler, the eldest of four children, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her father was a chemist and her mother a social worker. Her early childhood was spent in a succession of Quaker communities in the mountains of North Carolina and in Raleigh...
novel Saint Maybe
Saint Maybe
Saint Maybe is a 1991 novel by American author Anne Tyler.Tyler's plot explores the ways ordinary people react to disastrous events with quietly heroic behavior. When seventeen-year-old Ian Bedloe confronts his older brother Danny with his belief that the latter's wife, Lucy, is having an affair,...
.
Film
Kanakaredes' film appearances include The Long Kiss GoodnightThe Long Kiss Goodnight
The Long Kiss Goodnight is a 1996 action thriller film starring Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson, written by Shane Black and directed by Renny Harlin.-Plot:...
as Trin and 15 Minutes
15 Minutes
15 Minutes is a 2001 film starring Robert De Niro , Edward Burns and Karel Roden. It is about a homicide detective and a fire marshal who must stop a couple of Eastern European murderers from videotaping their killing and becoming sensationalized by the media. Melina Kanakaredes and Kelsey Grammer,...
as Nicolette Karas, the girlfriend of Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
's character. She was considered for the lead role in My Big Fat Greek Wedding
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a 2002 Canadian and American romantic comedy film written by and starring Nia Vardalos and directed by Joel Zwick. The film is centered on Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos , a middle class Greek American woman who falls in love with a non-Greek upper middle class "White...
but had to turn it down due to her pregnancy.
She played the role of the Greek Goddess Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
in Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.
Personal life
Kanakaredes married Peter Constantinides on September 6, 1992. Together, they have two daughters: Zoe (b. May 23, 2000) and Karina Eleni (b. January 25, 2003). She and her husband, a former restaurant consultant, owned the "Tria Greek Kuzina" in Powell, OhioPowell, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 6,247 people, 1,975 households, and 1,789 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,057.3 people per square mile . There were 2,032 housing units at an average density of 669.2 per square mile...
, but it has since closed. When she was once asked why she doesn't use her husband's last name professionally, she stated, "It's even more difficult to pronounce than my maiden name."
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991–95 | The Guiding Light | Eleni Andros Cooper | 47 episodes Nominated for a Soap Opera Digest award Nominated for a Daytime Emmy award (Twice) Won a PFSCA award |
| 1994 | Bleeding Hearts | Daphne | |
| 1995 | Due South Due South Due South is a Canadian crime drama series with elements of comedy. The series was created by Paul Haggis, produced by Alliance Communications, and stars Paul Gross, David Marciano, and latterly Callum Keith Rennie... |
Victoria Metcalfe | Three episodes |
| 1995 | New York News New York News New York News was a newspaper drama which was broadcast in the United States by CBS as part of its 1995 fall lineup.-Premise:New York News was the story of the fictional New York Reporter, a struggling tabloid in the nation's largest, most competitive newspaper market, New York City... |
Angelina Villanova | |
| 1995 | NYPD Blue NYPD Blue NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan... |
Benita Alden | Five episodes |
| 1996 | The Long Kiss Goodnight The Long Kiss Goodnight The Long Kiss Goodnight is a 1996 action thriller film starring Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson, written by Shane Black and directed by Renny Harlin.-Plot:... |
Trin | |
| 1997 | Leaving L.A. | Libby Galante | Six episodes |
| 1997 | The Practice The Practice The Practice is an American legal drama created by David E. Kelley centering on the partners and associates at a Boston law firm. Running for eight seasons from 1997 to 2004, the show won the Emmy in 1998 and 1999 for Best Drama Series, and spawned the successful and lighter spin-off series Boston... |
Andrea Wexler | Two episodes |
| 1998 | Dangerous Beauty Dangerous Beauty Dangerous Beauty is a biographical drama film directed by Marshall Herskovitz. It is adapted from the non-fiction book The Honest Courtesan, by Margaret Rosenthal, , about the life of Veronica Franco , a courtesan in 16th century Venice.A stage musical version of the film premiered on July 25,... |
Livia | |
| 1998 | Rounders Rounders (film) Rounders is a 1998 film about the underground world of high-stakes poker. Directed by John Dahl and starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton, the movie follows two friends who need to quickly earn enough cash playing poker to pay off a large debt... |
Barbara | |
| 1998 | Saint Maybe Saint Maybe Saint Maybe is a 1991 novel by American author Anne Tyler.Tyler's plot explores the ways ordinary people react to disastrous events with quietly heroic behavior. When seventeen-year-old Ian Bedloe confronts his older brother Danny with his belief that the latter's wife, Lucy, is having an affair,... |
Rita | |
| 1999–2002 | Providence Providence (TV series) Providence is an American drama series that aired on NBC starring Melina Kanakaredes. The show ran for five seasons from January 8, 1999 until December 20, 2002.-Synopsis:The show revolves around Dr... |
Dr. Sydney Hansen | All 96 episodes Won a TV Guide Award Nominated for a TV Guide Award (2000) |
| 2001 | 15 minutes 15 Minutes 15 Minutes is a 2001 film starring Robert De Niro , Edward Burns and Karel Roden. It is about a homicide detective and a fire marshal who must stop a couple of Eastern European murderers from videotaping their killing and becoming sensationalized by the media. Melina Kanakaredes and Kelsey Grammer,... |
Nicolette Karas | |
| 2004 | CSI: Miami CSI: Miami CSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.... |
Detective Stella Bonasera | One episode |
| 2004–2010 | CSI: NY CSI: NY CSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes... |
Detective Stella Bonasera Stella Bonasera Stella Bonasera is a fictional character and protagonist on the CBS crime drama CSI: NY, portrayed by actress Melina Kanakaredes prior to season 7, at which point the character was written out of the show due to Kanakaredes not renewing her contract... |
140 episodes Won a Scream Award (2006) Nominated for a Scream Award (2007) |
| 2005 | Into the Fire | Catrina/Sabrina Hampton | |
| 2010 | Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is a 2010 fantasy-adventure film directed by Chris Columbus. The film is loosely based on The Lightning Thief, the first novel in the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series by Rick Riordan... |
Athena |
See also Famous Greek Americans
External links
- CSI: NY cast member biography at CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...