Batanides guest starred in such series as Crusader, Zorro, Combat!, The Twilight Zone, The Asphalt Jungle, Blue Light, Lost in Space, Mission: Impossible, The Silent Force, I Spy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Wild Wild West, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Bearcats!, The Odd Couple, and Happy Days. He appeared as Bill Golding in the season six, 1963 episode of Perry Mason entitled "The Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe". One of his more recognizable roles was that of the unfortunate Starfleet officer/geologist D'Amato in the Star Trek episode "That Which Survives". Among his film credits are The Unearthly (1957), Violent Road (1958), The Leech Woman (1960), Man-Trap (1961), The Maltese Bippy (1969), Evil Roy Slade (1972) and Brannigan (1975). He also appeared as Mr Kirkland in four of the Police Academy film series, and the 6th installment (City Under Siege) was his final acting appearance.