Melinda Shankar was born on February 18, 1992 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada to Canadian parents of Hindu Indo-Guyanese descent who immigrated to Canada. She has two older sisters and a brother, who is also an actor. She was raised in Orleans, Ontario, a suburban section of Ottawa, Ontario.\n', 'She began studying ballet and karate at the age of three. Shankar currently has a black belt in karate. She attended Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School in Ottawa until grade 11 before moving to Toronto when she was sixteen, following her casting in Degrassi: The Next Generation in 2008.\n', 'Shankar began her career as a child model and appeared in numerous print advertisements, including a Procter & Gamble billboard in Los Angeles.[citation needed] Shankar\'s mother was an actress and her paternal grandfather was a director in Guyana. Shankar\'s father would often drive up to five hours from Ottawa to Toronto for her auditions.\n', '

Return to Melinda Shankar Autograph Profile