Jennifer Aniston’s Dad Was on ‘Every Soap Opera Imaginable’: All About John Aniston’s Decades as a ‘Days of Our Lives’ Heavyweight
Years before his daughter delighted audiences on 'Friends' and 'The Morning Show,' John Aniston was a soapy villain
Jennifer Aniston is a prime-time TV icon thanks to her role as Rachel Green on Friends, but she also has an often overlooked family legacy in soap operas, as her father, John Aniston, played the devious yet charismatic Victor Kiriakis on Days of Our Lives for nearly four decades. John, who died in 2022 at age 89, was one of daytime TV’s most enduring figures, racking up nearly 3,000 episodes of Days and appearing regularly on the show until his passing.
While Jennifer’s fame ultimately surpassed John’s, father and daughter spoke highly of one another, and the actress has expressed admiration for her dad’s dedication as a soap star. Read on to learn all about Jennifer Aniston’s dad and see what he thought of her joining the family business.
Becoming a soap star and the dad of a future A-lister
John Aniston was born Yannis Anastassakis in Chania, Greece, in 1933. His family immigrated to the U.S. and settled in Pennsylvania, where he’d go on to study theater at Pennsylvania State University. After a stint in the Navy, he began his acting career in the ’60s, showing up in episodes of I Spy, The Virginian, Mission: Impossible and That Girl.
Interestingly, Aniston first appeared in Days of Our Lives in 1970, playing Dr. Eric Richards—a different character from the one he’d later become known for. After his first stint on Days, he was in the soap Love of Life in the ’70s, and from 1980 to 1984, he played soap opera veteran Mary Stuart’s fourth and final husband in Search for Tomorrow. The year after Aniston left the show, he was cast in his signature role as Victor in Days.
Before he rose to stardom, Aniston married Nancy Dow, a model and actress who appeared in episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies and The Wild Wild West, in 1965. Their daughter, Jennifer Aniston, was born in 1969. Aniston and Dow, who died at age 79 in 2016, divorced in 1980. Jennifer ended up being estranged from her mother for several years after she published From Mother and Daughter to Friends, a tell-all memoir detailing their difficult relationship, in 1999.
‘A wonderful character’—and a complicated relationship
When John Aniston first appeared on Days of Our Lives, Jennifer was just one year old, and he’d become an integral part of the soap from her teen years onward. The mustachioed actor brought an imposing presence to the small screen, and he called Victor “a wonderful character.” Given that he spent the better part of his long career in Salem, Aniston clearly found much to love in the soap opera space, and he relished playing a suave businessman with a criminal past, saying, “he has these snappy lines, which are a lot of fun to do.”
Jennifer Aniston followed in her dad’s acting footsteps, but their paths crossed just once, when she was an uncredited extra in an episode of Search for Tomorrow as a teen. Their father-daughter relationship wasn’t always easy, and she recalled how growing up in his shadow impacted her, saying, “Always wanting to get Pop’s approval—it was the thing that drove me and was also my biggest heartbreak: trying to impress and prove your value to a man who’s only capable of so much,” and remembering that when she was starting out, she felt like if she made it as an actress, “he will love me as much as I love him.”
Like many actor parents, John initially didn’t want his daughter to pursue the family business, fearing that she’d face rejection, but in 1990, before Jennifer became a household name, he recognized that her star power was undeniable, observing, “Jennifer is a natural talent. There are certain things you can learn in this business, and there are certain things you can’t learn. The comic instinct that she has is unerring. That’s her greatest asset.” Four years later, when she had her breakthrough role in Friends, this natural comic instinct would be on full display.
How Jennifer Aniston paid tribute to her dad: ‘His career is literally the definition of lifetime achievement’
Shortly before his passing in 2022, John Aniston earned a well-deserved Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award for his many years on Days of Our Lives. At the awards show, Jennifer gave a heartfelt speech about her dad, praising him for “appearing in every soap opera imaginable,” in addition to showing up in episodes of The West Wing, Gilmore Girls and Mad Men, and saying, “For over 30 years, his dedication to that show has gained him respect and admiration of his fellow actors, deep friendships and thrilled millions of fans around the world. His career is literally the definition of lifetime achievement.”
Speaking with Dax Shepard in a recent episode of his podcast, Jennifer marveled at her late father’s work ethic. “He was on that show forever,” she said. “In fact, the last episode he shot aired like a week after he died. So he worked right up until that was it. That was literally a wrap on John.” The Friends actress’ relationship with her dad may have had its ups and downs, but it’s obvious that both Anistons respected one another’s prodigious talents and John was excited to see his daughter become a star.
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