British actor Julian Sands was reported missing on Jan. 13, after going on a hike in the Mount Baldy area, approximately 45 miles from downtown L.A.
Search and rescue crews were immediately dispatched to the area. However, they were ultimately forced to suspend the rescue operation due to deadly weather and icy conditions. The risk of avalanches also made things difficult.
According to Sheriff officials, he was hiking in the Angeles National Forest, which had received several inches of snow and was wet and icy after a series of winter storms. Several of the mountain roads were also damaged by overflowing streams, which prompted them to close the off-road driving trails.
While the initial search and rescue operation was suspended, crews have continued to search the area “in a limited capacity” over the past months. Since he was first reported missing, there have been several ground and air searches, with the team working more than 500 hours to locate him.
On June 24—more than five months after he was reported missing—a group of hikers discovered human remains in the same area where Sands had been. The County Sheriff’s Department later confirmed that the remains were identified as those of 64-year-old Julian Sands, though the cause of death is still under investigation.
Just a few days prior, the actor’s family had thanked the local authorities for their search and rescue efforts. Sand’s brother Nick, who resides in North Yorkshire, where the siblings grew up, said he already said his ‘goodbyes’ and that he has come to terms with what has happened.
Born in the market town of Otley, Yorkshire, Julian Sands made his big screen debut in the 1984 biographical drama “The Killing Fields”, where he played the role of a photographer covering the Cambodian genocide.
The following year, he starred in the acclaimed 1985 romance film “A Room with a View”, which was an adaptation of E.M. Forster’s 1908 novel. Directed by James Ivory, the motion picture received eight Academy Award nominations, three of which it won.
After playing the breakthrough role, Sands decided to move to Hollywood to pursue an acting career in U.S. films. Over the next decade, he appeared in numerous films—both lower and higher-tier titles—including “Warlock”, “Impromptu”, “Naked Lunch”, “Leaving Las Vegas”, “Arachnophobia”, and “Boxing Helena.”
He also played the Phantom in the 1998 version of “The Phantom of the Opera” and starred alongside Jackie Chan in the 2003 action-comedy “The Medallion.”
On television, he also lent his voice to the “Jackie Chan Adventures” series and appeared in several titles including “Stargate SG-1”, “The L Word”, “Rose Red”, “Smallville”, and “Person of Interest.”
During the 1980s, he was married to British author and journalist Sarah Harvey. The two had one son. Following their divorce, Sands married American journalist and playwright Evgenia Citkowitz in 1990, after being introduced by a mutual friend. The couple had two daughters together.
Up until his death, he and his family resided in Los Angeles, California.
Sands’ manager, Sarah Jackson, said he “was a great client and friend” and that he died “doing what he loved in a place he loved.” Agent Chris echoed the sentiment, saying that he was an absolute professional who “was a lover of his craft.”
