Julian Sands confirmed dead: Actor's remains found months after going missing while hiking
Julian Sands, star of several Oscar-nominated films including "A Room With a View," was found dead on a Southern California mountain five months after he disappeared while hiking, authorities said Tuesday. He was 65.
Sands' remains were found by civilian hikers Saturday morning in the Mt. Baldy wilderness, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's office said in a press release shared Tuesday. The actor was an avid and experienced hiker who lived in Los Angeles and was reported missing Jan. 13 after setting out on the peak that rises more than 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) east of the city.
Crews aided by drones and helicopters had searched for him several times, but, severely hampered by wintry conditions that lasted through spring, no sign of him was found until the hikers came upon him. The chances of Sands being discovered alive had long since diminished to nearly nothing, but the sheriff’s department, which conducted an official search the day before he was found, emphasized that the case remained active.
"We would like to extend our gratitude to all the volunteers that worked tirelessly to locate Mr. Sands," the sheriff's office said in a statement.
A few days before he was found, Sands' family issued a statement saying, “We continue to hold Julian in our hearts with bright memories of him as a wonderful father, husband, explorer, lover of the natural world and the arts, and as an original and collaborative performer."
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Sands' disappearance was the latest tragedy in a series of storms that had created dangerous mountain conditions in the Southern California region in January. Two other hikers have recently died in the area.
Sands touted his love of the outdoors in a 2020 interview with the Guardian, saying he was happiest when "close to a mountain summit on a glorious cold morning" and that his biggest dream was scaling "a remote peak in the high Himalayas, such as Makalu."
The actor said in the interview that in the early 1990s, he was caught in an "atrocious" storm in the Andes and was lucky to survive when three others near his party didn't.
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Sands, who was born, raised and began acting in England, worked constantly in film and television, amassing more than 150 credits in a 40-year career.
Sands starred opposite Helena Bonham Carter in the 1985 British romance from director James Ivory, “A Room With a View.” The film won the British Academy of Film and Television Arts award for best film and was nominated for eight Oscars, winning three.
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He also had major roles in 1989′s “Warlock,” 1990′s “Arachnophobia,” 1991′s “Naked Lunch,” 1993′s “Boxing Helena,” and 1995′s “Leaving Las Vegas.”
Sands had worked consistently in the decades since with smaller roles in film and television. His final film was the 2022 horror film "The Ghosts of Monday," according to IMDB.
The actor is survived by his wife, journalist Evgenia Citkowitz, and their daughters Imogen Morley Sands and Natalya Morley Sands. He also shares son Henry Sands with ex-wife Sarah Harvey.
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Contributing: Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press
