Stella Bonasera
Stella Bonasera is a fictional character and the co-protagonist of the CBS crime drama CSI: NY, portrayed by actress Melina Kanakaredes for six seasons, after which the character was written out of the show due to Kanakaredes not renewing her contract. She is replaced by Jo Danville, played by Sela Ward.
Background
The character of Stella Bonasera is Mac Taylor's second-in-command in the fictional New York Police Department's crime lab of the television show CSI: New York. Throughout various episodes, the writers of the show have revealed that Bonasera began her career working as a patrol officer and once worked Narcotics out of Brooklyn North. She is portrayed as a character with a bold personality, and her unflagging determination to solve a crime has earned the character at least four complaints on her record as a result. Her badge number is "8946".
Early life
Stella is a half-Greek, half-Italian orphan (though she identifies more with her Greek side) who grew up at St. Basil's Orphanage. She left when she was eighteen (episode 115, "Til Death Do We Part"). In the season 5 episode "Grounds for Deception", it is revealed that Stella's mother was a restoration painter from Naousa who brought two-year-old Stella with her when she came to New York with an exhibit. Soon after the exhibit, her mother was killed in a traffic accident. Stella is fluent in Greek but her fluency in Italian is unknown. She was in foster care in her early life. It is revealed that a professor, whom Stella was close to, got her out of foster care.