Jennifer Aniston Shares Rare Childhood Photo To Instagram: ‘Love You Papa’

Jennifer Aniston shared a rare childhood photo to Instagram of herself and her father, Days of Our Lives star John Aniston, in the spirit of reflection for this holiday season.

The undated grainy image was taken when Jennifer was a little girl and during a period of time when John was an actor on either the soap operas Days of Our Lives, where he portrayed Eric Richards until 1970, or post-1975 when he played Eddie Aleata on Love of Life.

In the sweet sepia-toned photo, Jennifer paid tribute to her relationship with her father in the throwback image where her arms were wrapped around John’s neck, both of them looking straight into the camera and not smiling.

The pic showed Jennifer with her long hair cascading past her shoulders and sporting bangs. She was wearing an adorable checkered dress and a childhood pout. John looked very much a man of the 1970s with his dark hair combed to one side, sideburns, a heavy mustache, and a white shirt.

A subsequent photo in the series showed father and daughter today. John is now 86-years-old, his daughter 50, as seen in a current pic of the duo standing together at an industry event.

In the updated image, John is seen wearing all black, his formerly dark hair and mustache now snow-white. His famous daughter stands to his left with her arm wrapped protectively around him, and her head tilted in affection toward her father. Jen is wearing a stunning black dress with a lace-up front design.

The former Friends star said in the photo’s caption that she shared Christmas with “one of my creators,” and added the sentiment, “then and now” in honor of Throwback Thursday. John was married to Jennifer’s mother, the late Nancy Dow, from 1965 until 1980.

John is a beloved actor on Days of Our Lives, continuing in the role soap fans know him best, the devious Victor Kiriakis. He is seen below in a photo with castmate Mary Beth Evans.

Fans were touched by the actress’s sentiments and shared their feelings regarding the photos in the comments section of the post.

“Handsome papa and beautiful daughter,” commented one fan, followed by a happy face and red heart emoji.

“What a cute baby you were. Papa looks great,” said another follower of the actress.

“For us, people who are watching Days for years, we tend to forget that he is your dad. Love you both!!” followed by several pink and red heart emoji.

Celebrity pals also left loving comments regarding the photo. John’s former Days of Our Lives co-star Lisa Rinna sent her best wishes as well as actresses Rita Wilson and Hillary Swank, author Anne Wheaton, and comedienne Ali Wentworth.