Emily Mack
John Aniston wasn’t just a soap opera star. He was a legend of the genre, acting regularly on Days of Our Lives from 1985 until his death last week. He was 89 years old.
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Aniston is also, famously, the father of another beloved TV actor: Jennifer Aniston. See her touching tribute:
‘Days of our Lives’
Aniston was born on the Greek island of Crete in 1933 and emigrated to America with his family as a toddler. They settled down in Chester, Pennsylvania where his parents opened a restaurant. Eventually, the budding actor went on to to study theater at the Pennsylvania State University. After college, he served in the Navy as an intelligence officer, earning the rank of lieutenant commander.
Aniston made his on-screen debut in 1962 on the NBC procedural 87th Precinct playing, simply, “Officer 1.” But by 1970, Aniston had forged a reputation as a familiar face on daytime TV. He first appeared on Days of Our Lives in 1970 as Eric Richards, a villainous prison doctor. For his turn as Richards, Aniston was notorious among DOOL fans. At one point, he was attacked in a grocery store over his character’s evil antics! It is a fierce fandom.
And yet, viewers accepted it when Aniston returned to DOOL more than a decade later — as a different character: Victor Kiriakis.
Like Aniston himself, Kiriakis is a Greek immigrant, although that’s where the similarities end. Kiriakis is a rich and powerful mobster, highly connected in the fictional town of Salem, Illinois. Eventually it’s revealed that he is the biological father of Bo Brady, the product of his affair with lead matriarch Caroline Brady.
Of course, as time went on, many more familial and romantic connections were revealed — it is a soap opera, after all. And Aniston was there for all of it. He remained on the show on and off until present day. Even Kiriakis’ death in 2004 was re-written around, as he was later discovered alive on the mysterious island of Melaswen.
In all, Aniston appeared in 3,782 episodes of the show. He earned a Daytime Emmy for the role in 2017 and, in 2022, a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award for his decades on Days of Our Lives.
John Aniston’s Family
John Aniston married the actress Nancy Dow in in 1965 and became stepfather to her young son, John Melick. John and Dow also had one child together in 1969: Jennifer Aniston. They remained together until 1980 and, after divorcing, it appeared that Jennifer remained much closer with her father. She and Nancy were estranged for many years.
In 1984, John married Sherry Rooney, his former co-star from Love of Life. (John appeared in one episode of the show in 1975.) They had a son together in 1989, Alexander Aniston.
He is survived by Rooney and his three children.
