Arthur Batanides

Arthur Batanides (April 9, 1923 – January 10, 2000) was a prolific American film and television actor whose career spanned nearly four decades. Born in Tacoma, Washington, he discovered his passion for performance while entertaining fellow GIs during World War II, delivering stand‑up routines that sparked his love of the stage. After the war he refined his craft at the Actors' Lab in Los Angeles, a hub for method actors, and accumulated extensive stage experience before transitioning to screen work. His television résumé reads like a catalogue of classic 20th‑century series: he guest‑starred in Crusader, Tombstone Territory, Zorro, Combat!, and even iconic shows such as The Twilight Zone, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Andy Griffith Show, Bonanza, and Star Trek, where he portrayed the hapless Starfleet officer D’Amato in the memorable episode “That Which Survives”. Batanides also appeared in Mission: Impossible, I Spy, The Wild Wild West, Columbo and many others, often embodying complex supporting characters that added depth to each episode. In film, he contributed to genre pictures like The Unearthly (1957) and The Leech Woman (1960), as well as comedies such as The Maltese Bippy (1969) and the cult classic Evil Roy Slade (1972). Later in his career he became a familiar face in the Police Academy series, playing Mr. Kirkland in four installments, with his final screen appearance in Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989). Arthur Batanides died in Los Angeles on January 10, 2000, leaving behind a legacy of versatile character work that continues to be celebrated by classic‑TV enthusiasts.