John Anthony Aniston (born Yannis Anastassakis, , July 24, 1933 – November 11, 2022) was an American actor who played Victor Kiriakis on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

daytime drama series ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that aired on the network NBC from November 8, 1965, to September 9, 2022; the soap has streamed n ...

'', 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 The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...

nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2017 and he received a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022. He was the father of actress

Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress. She rose to international fame for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom ''Friends'' from 1994 to 2004, which earned her Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe, and Scr ...

Early life

Aniston was born in Pervolakia,

Chania Chania (, , ), also sometimes romanization of Greek, romanized as Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno ...

on the island of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, Greece, on July 24, 1933, to Stella Joanne (née Koume; 1899–1992) and Antonios Anastassakis (1889–1965). The family left Crete for the United States when Aniston was two years old; his father

anglicized Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

the family's names on arriving in the US. The family settled in

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area (also known as the Delaware Valley) on the western bank of the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. ...

, where they operated a restaurant. Aniston attended Eddystone High School and later graduated from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in theater arts. While at Penn State, he became a member of

Alpha Chi Rho Alpha Chi Rho (), commonly known as Crows, Crow, or AXP, is an American men's collegiate fraternity founded on June 4, 1895, at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, by the Reverend Paul Ziegler, his son Carl Ziegler, and Carl's friends Wi ...

fraternity. After college, he served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

as an intelligence officer on active duty in Panama and later in the Reserve, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander.

Career

Aniston began his acting career in 1962 in ''

87th Precinct The 87th Precinct is a series of police procedural novels and stories by American author Evan Hunter, Ed McBain (a writing pseudonym of Evan Hunter). McBain's 87th Precinct works have been adapted, sometimes loosely, into movies and television o ...

'' as "Officer #1" in the episode "New Man in the Precinct". He appeared in soap operas regularly starting in 1970, when he first joined ''

'' as a character named Dr. Eric Richards. In 1975, he joined the cast of ''

Love of Life ''Love of Life'' is an American soap opera televised on CBS from September 24, 1951, to February 1, 1980. It was created by Roy Winsor, whose previous creation '' Search for Tomorrow'' premiered three weeks before ''Love of Life''; he created ...

'' as Eddie Aleata, appearing through 1978. He played Mary Stuart's new love interest, Martin Tourneur, on ''

Search for Tomorrow ''Search for Tomorrow'' is an American television soap opera. It began its run on CBS on September 3, 1951, and concluded on NBC, 35 years later, on December 26, 1986. Set in the fictional town of Henderson in an unspecified state, the show f ...

'' 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. He was nominated for the 2017 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his performance. 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. Aniston also played small roles on the television series ''

Airwolf ''Airwolf'' is an American action military drama television series. It centers on a high-technology attack helicopter, code-named '' Airwolf'', and its crew. They undertake various exotic missions, many involving espionage, with a Cold War the ...

'' in the season two episode "Short Walk to Freedom", ''

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. The show debuted October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flagship series for the network. The show ran fo ...

'' as Douglas Swope in the 2002 episode "A Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving", ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where t ...

'' 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 ''American Dreams'' is an American drama television series that ran on NBC for three seasons and 61 episodes, from September 29, 2002, to March 30, 2005. The show tells the story of the Pryor family of Philadelphia during the mid-1960s, with m ...

'' (with ''Days'' co-star Frances Reid), ''

Journeyman A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee ...

'', and ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...

''.

Personal life

Aniston had a daughter,

(b. 1969), with his first wife,

Nancy Dow Nancy Maryanne Dow (July 22, 1936 – May 27, 2016) was an American television and film actress. She was married to actor John Aniston and was the mother of actress Jennifer Aniston. Early life Dow was born in West Hartford, Connecticut, one o ...

, and a son, Alexander (b. 1989), with his second wife, Sherry Rooney (whom he met while co-starring on ''

''). His daughter Jennifer's godfather was

Telly Savalas Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas (; January 21, 1922 – January 22, 1994) was a Greek-American actor. Noted for his bald head and deep, resonant voice, he is perhaps best known for portraying Lt. Theo Kojak on the crime drama series '' Kojak'' (1973� ...

, one of his best friends.

Death

Aniston died on November 11, 2022, at the age of 89 and he was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills, California, U.S.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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John Aniston
at Find a Grave {{DEFAULTSORT:Aniston, John 1933 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American male actors American expatriates in England 21st-century American male actors American male soap opera actors American male television actors Greek male film actors Greek emigrants to the United States American expatriate male actors Male actors from Crete Male actors from Pennsylvania Military personnel from Pennsylvania Penn State College of Arts and Architecture alumni People from Chania Place of death missing United States Navy officers Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)