Photo Credit: NBC
By Angela Ryan-Duncan
Beloved soap actor, John Aniston, who played Victor Kiriakis on Days of Our Lives, has passed away at age 89 on November 11.
Aniston was born on July 24th, 1933 in Crete, Greece, and immigrated to the United States with his family when he was 2. His parents operated a family restaurant in Chester, Pennsylvania.
He received a bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts from the University of Pennsylvania and after graduating he enlisted in the US Navy where he was an intelligence officer on active duty in Panama, reaching the rank of lieutenant commander.
He began acting in 1962, His first role was on 87th Precinct and he had roles in many TV series and movies such as Love With The Proper Stranger, I Spy, Mission: Impossible, That Girl, and Kojak, before appearing in his first soap opera, Days of Our Lives, as Dr. Eric Richards for one episode in 1970 and then as Eddie Aleata for one episode of Love of Life, in 1975. He went on to play Martin Tourneur on Search For Tomorrow, from 1980-1984.
In July of 1985, he started appearing as Victor Kiriakis on Days of Our Lives, a role he continued until his death. In 2017 he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and in 2022 he received the Daytime Emmys Lifetime Achievement Award which was accepted on his behalf by his daughter, Jennifer Aniston.
Over the course of his career, John also appeared on many shows, including, Airwolf, Diagnosis Murder, Star Trek: Voyager, The West Wing, Gilmore Girls, Cold Case, and Mad Men.
John Aniston is survived by his wife, Sherry Rooney, stepson, John T. Melick, daughter, Jennifer Aniston, son, Alexander Aniston, and his grandchildren.
Read the tribute from his daughter Jennifer below. Our deepest sympathies go out to all who loved John Aniston. He will be missed by all that his art has touched.
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