John Aniston

Aniston was born Yiannis Anastasakis (Greek: Γιάννης Αναστασάκης) on July 24, 1933 on the island of Crete, Greece, to Stella Joanne (October 1, 1899 – November 7, 1992) and Antonios Anastasakis (January 17, 1889 – May 1965). The family left Crete for the United States when Aniston was two years old; his father anglicized the family’s names on arriving in America. The family settled in Chester, Pennsylvania, where they operated a restaurant.[2]

He graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a bachelor's degree in Theater Arts. While at Penn State, he became a member of Alpha Chi Rho fraternity.[3] After college, he served in the United States Navy as an intelligence officer on active duty in Panama and later in the reserve, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander.[1]

Aniston has a daughter, Jennifer Aniston (born February 11, 1969), with his first wife, Nancy Dow, and also has a son, Alexander, with his second wife, Sherry Rooney Aniston (whom he met while co-starring on Love of Life).[4] His daughter Jennifer's godfather was Telly Savalas, one of his best friends.[5]

John also has a stepson, John T. Melick, from Nancy's prior marriage, that he has raised since he was a toddler.

Aniston has appeared in soap operas regularly since 1969, when he first joined Days of Our Lives as a character named Eric Richards, which he played until 1970. In 1975, he joined the cast of Love of Life as Eddie Aleata. In November 1978, he left Love of Life and began playing Mary Stuart's new love interest, Martin Tourneur, on Search for Tomorrow in February 1979. He played that role 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 continues to play the role.[1] He has been nominated for the 2017 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his performance.[6]

He also played a small role on the television series Gilmore Girls. Aniston made guest appearances on Airwolf in season two, Combat!, My Big Fat Greek Life, Star Trek: Voyager, Mission: Impossible, American Dreams (with Days co-star Frances Reid), Journeyman, and Mad Men.[7]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Aniston.

• John Aniston at IMDb
• John Aniston at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television