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Melina was born on the 18th of October 1920 in Athens. Melina's father was a member of the Greek Parliament, while her grandfather was Mayor of Athens. She studied at the National Drama School of Greece(1943-46) and made her debut on stage in 1944. In 1949, she hold the leading role of Blanch in the "Streetcar named Desire" of Tennessee Williams.

Kakoyiannis' "Stella" was her first work on film in 1955. In 1965 she married the director Jules Dassin who directed her in the movies: "Never on Sunday" (1960), "Faedra" (1962), "TopKapi" (1964) and "A Dream of Passion" (1978).

She was nominated for an Oscar for "Never on Sunday", but it was Elizabeth Taylor's year in Hollywood. Melina won the Cannes Prize, a Prize she happily shared with the famous Moreau. She was also nominated for a Cannes prize in 1955 in Kakoyiannis' "Stella". She did not win, as no prize was given to an actress that year. But Isa Miranda, one of the judges, gave her one prize named "Isa Miranda" prize.

Melina fought hard against the Greek dictatorship from France where she was in exile (1967-1974). After the fall of the dictators she came back in Greece and got involved in politics. In 1977 she won a seat in Greece's parliament and in 1981 she was appointed Minister of Culture (a post that she held for almost nine years). Melina was the first woman to hold a senior cabinet post. Her vision until her death was the return of the Parthenon Marbles in Greece from the British Museum were they are kept since their removal in 19th century from Lord Elgin. Moreover, she was one of the creators of the European Capital of Culture insitution, which recognizes a city of Europe as the centre of many cultural festivities, every 4 years.