Days of Our Lives

Background:

Greek American actor John Aniston, the father of actress Jennifer Aniston, is best known for his work in the long running soap opera “Days of Our Lives.” As character Victor Kiriakis on the series, (1985-1997, 1999-2003 and 2004-2010) he received three Soap Opera Awards for his performance. He also played Eddie Aleata on “Love of Life” (1975-1978) and Martin Tourneur on “Search for Tomorrow” (1978-1984). In addition to soap operas, Aniston has guest starred in “Mission: Impossible,” “Kojak,” “Airwolf,” “Diagnosis Murder,” “L.A. Heat,” “Star Trek: Voyager,” “The West Wing,” “Gilmore Girls,” “My Big Fat Greek Life,” “Cold Case” and “Mad Men.” He also appeared in the films “Now You See Him, Now You Don't” (1972), “Sands of Oblivion” (2007, TV), “Fixing Rhonda” (2008) and “The Awakening of Spring” (2008).

Aniston has been married twice and has two kids. His daughter, Jennifer Aniston, was mothered by his first wife Nancy Dow (1965-1980)) and Alexander Aniston’s mother is his present wife Sherry Rooney (married since 1984). Aniston can speak Greek, Spanish and English fluently.

Lieutenant Commander

Childhood and Family:

John Aniston was born Yannis Anastassakis on July 24, 1933, in Crete, Greece. His parents, Stella Joanne (1989-1992) and Anthony J. Anastassakis (1988-1965), migrated to the United States when John was two years old and opened a diner in Chester, Pennsylvania. Once in the U.S., his father changed the family name Anastassakis to Aniston. John has two sisters.

John studied biology at California State University before earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater arts from Pennsylvania State University. After college, he served in the U.S. Navy as an intelligence officer in Panama. He later attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the reserve.

On December 11, 1965, John married actress Nancy Dow (born July 22, 1936). The couple welcomed a daughter, Jennifer Aniston, on February 11, 1969, in Sherman Oaks, California. When Jennifer was a child, John moved the family to Greece to study medicine. However, due to political disturbances, the universities closed and after waiting 12 months for the universities to reopen, he decided to move back to the United States and pursue a career in acting. John and his wife divorced on August 20, 1980. On June 14, 1984, John married actress Sherry Rooney. Together they have one son named Alexander Aniston.

Search for Tomorrow

Career:

After considering a career in medicine, John Aniston shifted gears to acting and went on to appear in over 40 stage productions, among them the Broadway musical “Little Mary Sunshine” and the Hollywood production of Arthur Miller's “Death of a Salesman.” He made his television debut in an episode of “87th Precinct” called “New Man in the Precinct” (1962). It was followed by a bit part in the film “Love with the Proper Stranger” (1963), which was directed by Robert Mulligan and starred Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen. During 1964 to 1969, Aniston appeared in the television shows “Combat,” “I Spy,” “Accident Family,” “The Virginian” and “Mission: Impossible” as well as in the television film “Now You See It, Now You Don't” (NBC), starring Jonathan Winters and Steve Allen.

In 1970, Aniston portrayed Phil Harvey in the episode “Stop the Presses, I Want to Get Off” of the ABC sitcom “That Girl” (starred Marlo Thomas). He revisited feature films in 1972 in the Walt Disney family comedy “Now You See Him, Now You Don't,” a sequel to the 1969 film “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes.” Directed by Robert Butler, “Now You See Him, Now You Don't” starred Kurt Russell and Cesar Romero. In 1974, Aniston appeared in two episodes of “Kojak,” a CBS series starring his best friend, actor Telly Savalas.

Aniston's big break arrived in the mid-1970s when he landed the role of Eddie Aleata on the long running soap opera “Love of Life” (CBS, 1951-1980), created by Roy Winsor. He remained with the show for three years. After leaving “Love of Live,” Aniston joined the cast of “Search for Tomorrow,” another soap created by Winsor, in the role of Mary Stuart’s love interest, Martin Tourneur. He was on the show from 1978 to 1984.

1985 saw Aniston guest star as Colonel Arturo Alzar in “Airwolf,” but it was not until he won the role of debonair Victor Kiriakis on the soap opera “Days of Our Lives,” which debuted on NBC on November 8, 1965, that he eventually became a household name. Aniston made his first appearance on the show on July 19, 1985, and picked up his first two Soap Opera Digest Awards in 1986 for Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role on a Daytime Serial and Outstanding Villain on a Daytime Serial. He left the show in 1997, but rejoined the series in 1999. In 2001, he won his third Soap Opera Digest Award, this time in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor. Aniston's character was killed off in a murder mystery storyline in 2004, but Victor was later found alive on an island. Today, Aniston is listed as a senior cast member, along with Suzanne Rogers, Susan Seaforth Hayes, Bill Hayes, James Reynolds, Joseph Mascolo, Kristian Alfonso, Peter Reckell, Peggy McCay, Josh Taylor and Alison Sweeney.

In addition to his daytime duties, Aniston has worked on several other projects. In the 1990s, he guest starred in “Diagnosis Murder” (as Carlton Everest), “Fired Up” (as Gordon) and “L.A. Heat” (as Alex Zota) and reprised his role of Victor Kiriakis on the television film special “Days of Our Lives: Night Sins” (1993). Aniston went on to appear as Quarren Ambassador in “Star Trek: Voyager” (2 episodes, 2001), Alexander Thompson in “The West Wing” (2 episodes, 2002), Douglas Swope in “Gilmore Girls” (1 episode, 2002), Constantine Christakos in “My Big Fat Greek Life” (1 episode, 2003) and John Victor in “American Dreams” (1 episode, 2004).

In 2007, Aniston worked with Ethan Embry, Illeana Douglas, Paul Adelstein, Liza Weil, Deborah Quayle, Troy Gentile and Alex D. Linz on the short film “Order Up,” which was written and directed by Neil A. Stelzner. The same year, he also portrayed Nigel Barrington in the science fiction television film “Sands of Oblivion,” broadcasted on the Sci Fi Channel on July 28, 2007. Costars of the film included Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin, Victor Webster, George Kennedy, Richard Kind and Dan Castellaneta. After guest starring in “Journeyman” (still 2007), Aniston played Detective Macomas in the dramatic film “Fixing Rhonda,” by James Biberi and Nellie Sciutto, and Mr. Gable in the film adaptation of Frank Wedekind's play “The Awakening of Spring” (both 2008). Also in 2008, he portrayed Jim in an episode of “Worst Week” called “The Wedding.”

Aniston next guest starred as Herbert James in a 2009 episode of CBS' series “Cold Case” called “WASP.” On August 29, 2010, he appeared as Wallace Harriman on the AMC cable network critically acclaimed period drama “Mad Men,” starring Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, January Jones, Christina Hendricks, Maggie Siff and Bryan Batt.

Aniston will play Gerard Benedict in the upcoming action movie “The Gold & the Beautiful,” opposite Agnes-Nicole Winter, Sam Golzari, Tony Schiena, John Farley and Kevin P. Farley. Directed by Jack Serino and written by Agnes-Nicole Winter, the film will be released in the U.S. in 2011.

Awards:

• Soap Opera Digest: Outstanding Supporting Actor, “Days of Our Lives,” 2001

• Soap Opera Digest: Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role on a Daytime Serial, “Days of Our Lives,” 1986

• Soap Opera Digest: Outstanding Villain on a Daytime Serial, “Days of Our Lives,” 1986