John Aniston (born Yiannis Anastasakis /ˌænəstəˈsækɪs/, Greek: Γιάννης Αναστασάκης, July 24, 1933) is a Greek-born American actor. He is best known for his role as Victor Kiriakis on the NBC daytime drama series Days of Our Lives, which he originated in July 1985 and has played continually since then. He is the father of Jennifer Aniston.
Early life
Aniston was born on the island of Crete, Greece, to Stella Joanne (1899–1992) and Antonios Anastasakis (1889–1965). 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.
He 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.
Personal life
Aniston has a daughter, Jennifer Aniston (born February 11, 1969), with his first wife, Nancy Dow, and also has a son, Alexander, with his second wife, Sherry Rooney Aniston (whom he met while co-starring on Love of Life). His daughter Jennifer’s godfather was Telly Savalas, one of his best friends.
John also has a stepson, John T. Melick, from Nancy’s prior marriage, that he has raised since he was a toddler.
Career
Aniston has appeared in soap operas regularly since 1969, when he first joined Days of Our Lives as a character named Eric Richards, which he played until 1970. In 1975, he joined the cast of Love of Life as Eddie Aleata. In November 1978, he left Love of Life and began playing Mary Stuart’s new love interest, Martin Tourneur, on Search for Tomorrow in February 1979. He played that role 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 continues to play the role. He was nominated for the 2017 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his performance.
He also played a small role on the television series Gilmore Girls. Aniston made guest appearances on Airwolf in season two, Combat!, My Big Fat Greek Life, Star Trek: Voyager, Mission: Impossible, American Dreams (with Days co-star Frances Reid), Journeyman, and Mad Men.
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 | |
| 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 | 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” |
| 1985–present | Days of Our Lives | Victor Kiriakis | 3782 episodes |
| 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” |
| 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 | 2 episodes |
| 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” | |
| 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
| Year | Award | Category | Title | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soap Opera Digest Award | Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role on a Daytime Serial | Days of Our Lives | Won | ||
| Soap Opera Digest Award | Outstanding Villain on a Daytime Serial | Days of our Lives | Won | ||
| Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | Days of our Lives | Nominated |