Emmy-winning actor John Aniston, father of actress Jennifer Aniston died November 11, 2022, of natural causes.
Although he was best known for his role as Victor Kiriakiso on the soap opera Days Of Our Lives, he also appeared on Star Trek: Voyager as the Quarren Ambassador in the Emmy-nominated two-part episode “Workforce.”
John Aniston was born Yannis Anaastassakis on the island of Crete in the city of Chania, July 24, 1933. When he was two his family immigrated to the United States of America. They settled in Pennsylvania and anglicized their name to Aniston. John Aniston graduated from Pennsyvlania State University with a degree in theater arts. He served his adopted country honorably, as an officer in the United States Navy. From 1965 to 1980, he was married to actress Nancy Dow (1936-2016), the mother of his daughter actress Jennifer Aniston. In 1984 he married his second wife, Sherry Rooney, the mother of his son Alexander.
From 1970 to 2022, Aniston acted in soap operas, principally on Days of Our Lives. In the early Seventies he played Eric Richards on Days. In 1975, he joined the cast of Love of Life. From 1980 to 1984 he played Martin Tourneur. In 1985, he returned to Days of Our Lives, this time as Victor Kiriakis, the role he would continue for the rest of his life. Between Richards and Kiriakis, he appeared in more than three thousand episodes of Days of Our Lives over the course of thirty-seven years.
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.” It will be a posthumous award now, but after 3,000 episodes they are unlikely to change their minds. In 2017, Aniston was nominated for the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. ?in 1986 he won the Soap Opera Digest Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Serial and Outstanding Villain on a Daytime Serial.
Also of interest to SciFi.Radio fans, Aniston voiced Dr. Marcus Capello/Captain Action on 27 episodes of The Inhumanoids.
John Aniston died Veterans Day, November 11, 2022. This actor and Navy veteran is survived by his widow, Sherry Rooney Aniston, his daughter Jennifer, and his son Alexander. At this time, the family has not yet chosen to reveal the cause of death.
He was 89.
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Susan Macdonald is the author of the children's book "R is for Renaissance Faire", as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in "Alternative Truths", "Swords and Sorceress #30", Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, "Cat Tails" "Under Western Stars", and "Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid". Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio's web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions, Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.