Star Trek: Voyager Actor Has Passed Away
John Aniston, who starred in the two-part Star Trek: Voyager episode "Workforce" in 2001, has died at the age of 89.
John Aniston, who counted among his credits the two-part “Workforce” on Star Trek: Voyager, has died at the age of 89. The actor was much better known for his longtime role on the daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives, and as the father of Friends star Jennifer Aniston. According to the report from Deadline, no cause of death has been released.
Jennifer Aniston posted a touching tribute to her father on social media, calling him “one of the most beautiful humans” she’d ever known. She included photos of John Aniston from both long before and long after his Star Trek appearance, beginning with a photo of him holding his daughter when she was an infant. You can see the post below.
John Aniston appeared in the Star Trek: Voyager episode as the Quarren Ambassador; a small but important role. “Workforce” has one of the more interesting beginnings on the series; with most of the lead characters appearing on the planet Quarra, where they all seem to believe they are Quarrens and have no memory of their lives aboard Voyager. Chakotay (Robert Beltran) is one of the only main characters left aboard the ship, and his efforts to rescue his comrades is where the Quarren Ambassador comes in.
Chakotay reaches out to the Quarren government and it’s John Aniston’s Star Trek character who he talks to. The ambassador assures Chakotay that the people he’s looking for are all Quarren citizens, and warns him against making any kind of attempt to abduct them.
When it’s eventually revealed Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and the others were kidnapped and used as slave labor, John Aniston’s character boards the iconic Star Trek vessel to apologize.
Rather than Star Trek, it’s fans of Days of Our Lives who have been deeply invested in John Aniston’s work for half a century. The late actor played Dr. Eric Richards on the soap originally, but starting in 1985 he assumed the role he would be known for up to and beyond his passing — Victor Kiriakis, who he played right up to this year in over 2800 episodes. As recently as this June, Aniston was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Daytime Emmys.
Along with Days of Our Lives and Star Trek: Voyager, John Aniston’s career featured appearances on TV shows like Airwolf, Mission: Impossible, The West Wing, My Big Fat Greek Life, Gilmore Girls, Mad Men, and more.
John Aniston was born in Greece, on the Isle of Crete, and his family moved to the United States when he was only two years old. His first screen acting credit is in a 1962 episode of 87th Precinct.
