Melina Kanakaredes
Dr. Sydney Hansen
Birthday: April 23
Melina Kanakaredes (pronounced Ka-na-KA-ree-deez) is second-generation Greek, and speaks the language fluently. She was born (April 23rd) and raised in Akron, Ohio, the youngest of three sisters. Her retired father was an insurance salesman and her mother is a homemaker. She began performing locally when she sang with her sisters and made her acting debut 8 years old in the community theater production of "Tom Sawyer." In high school, she helped out an all-boys Jesuit school nearby by taking on the female parts for their stage productions.
Kanakaredes attended Ohio State University to study music, dance and theater, but ended up transferring to Point Park College in Pittsburgh which was affiliated with the Pittsburgh Playhouse and Pittsburgh Public Theatre. She graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. of Fine Arts in Theater and moved to the Big Apple.
In New York, she started out working on a dinner boat and did occassional off-Broadway plays. Her big break came when she got a role on "Guiding Light" as a Greek immigrant, and appeared in many commercials.
Kanakaredes enjoys visiting her family in Ohio, reading, swimming, working out, traveling, listenting to James Taylor, and is a sports fan of the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Bulls. She is married to a professional chef, and lives in the San Fernando Valley.
Career highlights
TV
Saint Maybe, 1998: Rita
Dangerous Beauty, 1998: Courtesan
Leaving L.A., 1997: Libby Galante
New York News, 1995: Angela Villanova
NYPD Blue, 1995: Benita Alden
Guiding Light, 1991-4: Eleni Andros Cooper
Movies
Rounders, 1998: Barbara
The Long Kiss Goodnight, 1996: Trin
Links