FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

John Anthony Aniston (born Yannis Anastassakis, Greek: Γιάννης Αναστασάκης, July 24, 1933 – November 11, 2022) was a Greek-born American actor. He was 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 played continually for 37 years. The role 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.

CAREER

Aniston began his acting career in 1962 in 87th Precinct as “Officer #1” in the episode “New Man in the Precinct”. 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 in one episode. 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 season two’s 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.