John Aniston was honored earlier this year with a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award, presented with a sweet message from his daughter.
John Aniston, best known for his longtime role as Victor Kiriakis on NBC’s daytime drama series “Days of Our Lives,” is dead at 89 years old.
His daughter, “Friends” star Jennifer Aniston, shared the news on Instagram Monday. She said Aniston died Friday.
“You were one of the most beautiful humans I ever knew,” she wrote. “I am so grateful that you went soaring into the heavens in peace – and without pain. And on 11/11 no less! You always had perfect timing. That number will forever hold an even greater meaning for me now … I’ll love you till the end of time.”
Aniston was honored earlier this year with a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by his daughter in a pre-recorded speech at the ceremony.
“It’s an opportunity to not only pay tribute to a true icon in the daytime television world, but it’s also a chance to recognize the lifelong achievements of a great and well respected actor who also happens to be my dad,” she said. “John Aniston has been working in television consistently for over half a century.”
Aniston’s role as Kiriakis spanned close to 40 years, and “Days of Our Lives” wasn’t the only such show he appeared on. His daughter joked that he has acted in “nearly every soap opera imaginable,” including “Search for Tomorrow” as Martin Tourneur.
Aniston’s other credits include classic TV shows like “Mission Impossible” and appearances on “Gilmore Girls,” “The West Wing,” “Star Trek: Voyager and “Mad Men.”
The actor was born Yiannis Anastasakis in Crete, Greece, The Hollywood Reporter says. His family emigrated to Chester, Pennsylvania while he was still a toddler. He attended Penn State University before relocating to New York and getting his first TV gig in 1959.
Along with his daughter, Aniston leaves behind son Alex and his second wife, Sherry Rooney. His first wife, Jennifer’s mother Nancy Dow, died in 2016.