# John Aniston

John Anthony Aniston (born Yannis Anastassakis, Greek: Γιάννης Αναστασάκης, July 24, 1933 – November 11, 2022) was an 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 was the father of actress Jennifer Aniston.

## Early life

Aniston was born in Pervolakia, Chania on the island of Crete, Greece, on July 24, 1933, to Stella Joanne (née Koume; 1899–1991) and Antonios Anastassakis (1891–1966). The family left Crete for the United States when Aniston was two years old; his father anglicized the family's names on arriving in the US. The family settled in Chester, Pennsylvania, where they operated a restaurant.
Aniston attended Eddystone High School and later 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. 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.

## Career

Aniston began his acting career in 1962 in 87th Precinct as "Officer #1" in the episode "New Man in the Precinct". He appeared in soap operas regularly starting in 1970, when he first joined Days of Our Lives as a character named Dr. 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. 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 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.

## Personal life

Aniston had a daughter, Jennifer Aniston (b. 1969), with his first wife, Nancy Dow, and a son, Alexander (b. 1989), with his second wife, Sherry Rooney (whom he met while co-starring on Love of Life). His daughter Jennifer's godfather was Telly Savalas, one of his best friends.
Aniston died on November 11, 2022, at the age of 89.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 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 | |
| 1968 | The Virginian | Frank West | Episode: "Ride to Misadventure" |
| 1968 | 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 |
| 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 |
| 1997 | Diagnosis: Murder | Carlton Everest | Episode: "Must Kill TV" |
| 1997 | 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 |
| 2002 | The West Wing | Alexander Thompson | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | 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 |
| 2007 | Sands of Oblivion | Nigel Barrington | TV film |
| 2007 | Journeyman | Merrit Ambaucher | Episode: "Home by Another Way" |
| 2008 | The Awakening of Spring | Mr. Gable | |
| 2008 | Worst Week | Jim | Episode: "The Wedding" |
| 2008 | Fixing Rhonda | Detective Macomas | |
| 2009 | The Gold & the Beautiful | Gerard Benedict | |
| 2009 | Cold Case | Herbert "Wolf" James | Episode: "WASP" |
| 2010 | Mad Men | Wallace Harriman | Episode: "Waldorf Stories" |
| 2011 | The Paul Reiser Show | Harold Melon | Episode: "The Old Guy" |
| 2014 | Return to Zero | Ned | |

## Awards and nominations

List of acting awards and nominations :
| Year | Award | Category | Title | Result |
| 1986 | Soap Opera Digest Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role on a Daytime Serial | Days of Our Lives | Won |
| 1986 | Soap Opera Digest Awards | Outstanding Villain on a Daytime Serial | Days of Our Lives | Won |
| 2017 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | Days of Our Lives | Nominated |
| 2022 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award | Days of Our Lives | Won |