John Aniston, from Days of Our Lives; 1990.

John Anthony Aniston (born Yannis Anastassakis, Greek: Γιάννης Αναστασάκης, July 24, 1933 – November 11, 2022) was a Greek-born American actor who played Victor Kiriakis on the NBC daytime drama series Days of Our Lives, which he originated in July 1985 and played on and off for 37 years, until his death in 2022. His portrayal earned him a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2017 and he received a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022. He is the father of actress Jennifer Aniston.
Early life

Aniston was born in Chania on the island of Crete, Greece, on July 24, 1933,[1][2] to Stella Joanne (née Koume; 1899–1992) and Antonios Anastassakis (1889–1965).[3] The family left Crete for the United States when Aniston was two years old; his father anglicized the family’s names on arriving in America. The family settled in Chester, Pennsylvania, where they operated a restaurant.[4]

Aniston graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a bachelor's degree in theater arts. While at Penn State, he became a member of Alpha Chi Rho fraternity.[5] After college, he served in the United States Navy as an intelligence officer on active duty in Panama and later in the Reserve, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander.[3]
Career

Aniston began his acting career in 1962 in 87th Precinct as "Officer #1" in the episode "New Man in the Precinct".[citation needed] He has appeared in soap operas regularly since 1970, when he first joined Days of Our Lives as a character named Eric Richards. In 1975, he joined the cast of Love of Life as Eddie Aleata, appearing through 1978. He played Mary Stuart's new love interest, Martin Tourneur, on Search for Tomorrow from 1980 until April 1984. He returned to the cast of Days of Our Lives a second time, this time as Victor Kiriakis, in July 1985, and continued to play the role until his death.[3] He was nominated for the 2017 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his performance.[6]

In April 2022, it was announced that Aniston would receive a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award at the 49th Annual Daytime Creative Arts & Lifestyle Emmy Awards on June 18.[7]

Aniston also played small roles on the television series Airwolf in the season two episode "Short Walk to Freedom", Gilmore Girls as Douglas Swope in the 2002 episode "A Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving", The West Wing as Alexander Thompson in the episodes "Game On" and "Debate Camp" (both in 2002), as the First IMF Captain in the 1969 Mission Impossible episode "Time Bomb". Aniston has also made guest appearances on Combat! (1964), My Big Fat Greek Life (2002), Star Trek: Voyager (2001), American Dreams (with Days co-star Frances Reid), Journeyman, and Mad Men.[8][better source needed]
Personal life

Aniston had a daughter, Jennifer Aniston (born 1969), with his first wife, Nancy Dow, and a son, Alexander, with his second wife, Sherry Rooney (whom he met while co-starring on Love of Life).[9] His daughter Jennifer's godfather was Telly Savalas, one of his best friends.[10]

Aniston died on November 11, 2022, at the age of 89.[2][11]
Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1962	87th Precinct	Officer #1	Episode: "New Man in the Precinct"
1963	Love with the Proper Stranger	Birdman of Macy's
1964	Combat!	Greek #2	Episode: "Vendetta"
1967	I Spy	Economides	Episode: "The Beautiful Children"
1968	The Shakiest Gun in the West	Indian
	The Virginian	Frank West	Episode: "Ride to Misadventure"
	Now You See It, Now You Don't	Achmed	TV film
1969	Mission: Impossible	First IMF Captain	Episode: "Time Bomb"
1970; 1985–2022	Days of Our Lives	Eric Richards Victor Kiriakis	3,782 episodes[citation needed]
1970	That Girl	Phil Harvey	Episode: "Stop the Presses I Want to Get Off"
1974	Kojak	Webster / Dancik	2 episodes
1975–1978	Love of Life	Eddie Aleata	Unknown episodes
1979–1984	Search for Tomorrow	Martin Tourneur	Episode: "#1.8556"
1985	Airwolf	Colonel Arturo Alzar	Episode: "Short Walk to Freedom"
1986	Inhumanoids	Dr. Marcus Capello/Captain Action	27 Episodes
1993	Night Sins	Victor Kiriakis	TV film	[12]
1997	Diagnosis: Murder	Carlton Everest	Episode: "Must Kill TV"
	Fired Up	Gordon	Episode: "Honey, I Shrunk the Turkey"
1999	L.A. Heat	Alex Zota	Episode: "Faces of Fear"
2001	Star Trek: Voyager	Quarren Ambassador	"Workforce", Parts I and II	[13]
2002	The West Wing	Alexander Thompson	2 episodes
	Gilmore Girls	Douglas Swope	Episode: "A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving"
2003	My Big Fat Greek Life	Constantine Christakos	Episode: "Greek Easter"
2004	American Dreams	John Victor	Episode: "Old Enough to Fight"
2007	Order Up	Wise Man	Short film
	Sands of Oblivion	Nigel Barrington	TV film
	Journeyman	Merrit Ambaucher	Episode: "Home by Another Way"
2008	The Awakening of Spring	Mr. Gable
	Worst Week	Jim	Episode: "The Wedding"
	Fixing Rhonda	Detective Macomas
2009	The Gold & the Beautiful	Gerard Benedict
	Cold Case	Herbert "Wolf" James	Episode: "WASP"	[14]
2010	Mad Men	Wallace Harriman	Episode: "Waldorf Stories"
2011	The Paul Reiser Show	Harold Melon	Episode: "The Old Guy"
2014	Return to Zero	Ned		[15]

Awards and nominations

List of acting awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Title	Result	Ref.
1986	Soap Opera Digest Awards	Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role on a Daytime Serial	Days of Our Lives	Won	[16]
		Outstanding Villain on a Daytime Serial		Won	[16]
2017	Daytime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated	[17]
2022		Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award		Won	[18]

References

Mitchell, Molli (November 14, 2022). "Jennifer Aniston pays tribute to late father John Aniston". Newsweek. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
Barnes, Mike (November 14, 2022). "John Aniston, 'Days of Our Lives' Star and Father of Jennifer Aniston, Dies at 89". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
"John Aniston biography". BuddyTV. Archived from the original on October 1, 2015.
"John Aniston bio". Soap Opera Digest. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
"Entertainers - North American Interfraternity Conference". www.nicindy.org. Archived from the original on May 21, 2014.
Evans, Greg (March 22, 2017). "2017 Daytime Emmy Nominations: CBS Leads Networks With 70 Noms, 'Young & Restless' Tops With 25". Deadline Hollywood.
Maloney, Michael (April 26, 2022). "Daytime Emmys 2022 Announce Date, Changes, and Lifetime Achievement". soaphub.com. Soap Hub. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
"John Aniston on Mad Men". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
"Profile of John Aniston". About.com. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
"Jennifer Aniston Biography". People. Retrieved May 21, 2008.
Griffin, Louise (November 14, 2022). "Jennifer Aniston announces death of dad, actor John Aniston, aged 89: 'I'll love you till the end of time – don't forget to visit'". Metro. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
"Days of Our Lives: Night Sins (1993)". www.tcm.com. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
"Star Trek: Voyager, Season 7". TVGuide.com. Retrieved November 15, 2022. "Episodes 16 & 17"
"Paramount Press Express Releases | ... "COLD CASE" SUNDAY, NOV. 1". www.paramountpressexpress.com. CBS Entertainment Group. October 20, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2022. "Additional guest stars include multiple Emmy Award winner Michael Learned ("The Waltons") as a former WASP pilot, Tony Award winner Deanna Dunagan ("August: Osage County") as the ex-WASP commander, Chad Faust ("The 4400") as a WASP flight instructor, and John Aniston ("Days of Our Lives") as a WWII Army Air Force pilot veteran."
"Return to Zero - Full Cast & Crew, 2014". TVGuide.com. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
"The Soap Opera Digest Awards: 1986". Soap Opera Digest. soapoperadigest.com. April 11, 2003. Archived from the original on March 3, 2009. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
"The 44th Annual Daytime Emmy Award Nominations" (PDF). New York City: emmyonline.org and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. March 22, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 23, 2017. Retrieved March 22, 2017.
Rice, Lynette (April 26, 2022). "NATAS Names Lifetime Achievement Honorees; Sets Date For Daytime Emmys". Deadline.