Melinda McGraw, born October 25, 1963, in Nicosia, Cyprus, to American parents, is an American actress known for her versatile performances across television, film, and theater.

The youngest of three daughters, she grew up in the Boston area, attending Buckingham Browne & Nichols School and performing with the Boston Children's Theater before studying briefly at Bennington College and then training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where classmates included Clive Owen and Ralph Fiennes.

After theatrical work in London's West End in productions like Don Carlos, The Foreigner, and Twelfth Night, she returned to the United States in 1990, landing her first major television role as Detective Cyd Madison on The Commish from 1992 to 1994.​

Melinda McGraw gained wider recognition for portraying Melissa Scully, the sister of Dana Scully, in four episodes of The X-Files, including the poignant "One Breath" and "Christmas Carol," with her character's death linked to antagonist Alex Krycek, played by her former boyfriend Nicholas Lea.

She starred in short-lived series such as The Pursuit of Happiness (1995), Soul Man (1997–1998), Living in Captivity (1998), Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central) (2002), and Center of the Universe (2004), while building an extensive guest resume on shows like Quantum Leap, Seinfeld, Mad About You, The West Wing as campaign advisor Jane Braun and Mad Men, where her seductive Bobbie Barrett in season two earned a Screen Actors Guild Award as part of the ensemble and an OFTA nomination.​

In film, Melinda McGraw appeared as Barbara Gordon, Lieutenant James Gordon's wife, in The Dark Knight (2008), alongside roles in Wrongfully Accused (1998) and Skateland (2010), and received a Best Supporting Actress award from the Milan International Film Festival for Meeting Spencer (2010).

Her later television work includes recurring turns as Diane Sterling on NCIS across multiple seasons until her character's murder in 2014 and ghostly return in 2019, Dr. Greta Pryor on The Crossing (2018), and Patricia MacCready on Outcast (2016–2017), with recent credits encompassing Ghosts (2024) and Paul T. Goldman (2023).

Married to composer Steve Pierson, with whom she has a daughter, McGraw continues to balance dramatic and comedic roles in ongoing projects.​