Stocky, general purpose actor, a prolific face on the small screen
during the 1960s and 1970s. Batanides got into acting after
performing stand-up routines in front of fellow GI's in Europe during
World War II. His training in dramatic art at the Actors Lab in Los
Angeles was followed by extensive stage experience. He was more recently noted as "Mr.
Kirkland" in four instalments of the popular "Police Academy" franchise but
is remembered by older viewers chiefly as the ill-fated U.S.S. Enterprise
geologist Lieutenant D'Amato who died rather badly (cellular disruption)
in the Raumschiff Enterprise (1966) episode,
That Which Survives (1969). Other notable appearances include
one of dictator Clemente's
(Peter Falk) henchmen in
Unwahrscheinliche Geschichten (1959)
episode,
The Mirror (1961);
and the Mongol leader "Batu" in
Time Tunnel (1966)
episode,
Attack of the Barbarians (1967).
Batanides regularly played heavies in shows like
Tennisschläger und Kanonen (1965) and
Kobra, übernehmen Sie (1966),
or spoofed them (for instance, as a KAOS agent in
Mini-Max oder die unglaublichen Abenteuer des Maxwell Smart (1965)). He retired from
acting in 1989.
