(written from a Production point of view)
John Aniston (24 July 1933 – 11 November 2022; age 89) was an actor who played the Quarren ambassador in the Star Trek: Voyager seventh season episodes "Workforce" and "Workforce, Part II".
He was best known to soap opera fans for playing Victor Kiriakis on Days of Our Lives, a role which he played from 1985 until his death, appearing in over 3000 episodes. He previously had roles on two other long-running soap operas: Love of Life from 1975 through 1978 and Search for Tomorrow from 1978 through 1984.
Aniston was born Yannis Anastassakis on the Greek island of Crete. When he was two years old, his family relocated to the United States and anglicized their name to Aniston. They settled in Chester, Pennsylvania, where they operated a restaurant.
A Theater Arts graduate of Pennsylvania State University, Aniston performed in numerous theatrical productions across the United States. As he was primarily a theatrical actor, Aniston only appeared intermittently on television outside of his Days of Our Lives role. He first appeared to TV audiences in a 1962 episode of 87th Precinct, starring Star Trek: The Original Series guest actor Robert Lansing. This was followed with appearances on I Spy (in an episode with Bill Quinn), The Virginian, Mission: Impossible (with Leonard Nimoy and Barbara Luna), That Girl (with James Gregory), and Kojak. He later had guest roles on The West Wing and Gilmore Girls, among others.
Aniston passed away at age 89 on November 11, 2022. He was the father of actress Jennifer Aniston.
Other Trek connections[]
Additional film and TV projects in which Aniston appeared with other Star Trek performers are:
- Now You See It, Now You Don't (1968 TV movie, with Michael Forest)
- Diagnosis: Murder (1997, with Molly Hagan)
- Fired Up episode "Honey, I Shrunk the Turkey" (1997, with Jonathan Banks and Sharon Lawrence)
- L.A. Heat episode "Faces of Fear" (1999, with Kenneth Tigar)
- The West Wing (2002, with Bruce French, Thomas Kopache, and Glenn Morshower)
- My Big Fat Greek Life (2003, with Andrea Martin)