British actor Julian Sands, renowned for his roles in the 1985 costume drama “A Room With a View” and the “Warlock” horror films, has been confirmed dead after going missing for several months during a hiking expedition in the San Gabriel Mountains outside of Los Angeles.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Coroner Department officially announced the news on Tuesday, June 27, stating that civilian hikers came across human remains in the Mt. Baldy wilderness on June 24, 2023.
The Fontana Sheriff’s Station and the Emergency Operations Division of the Sheriff’s Department responded to the scene and later identified the remains as those of Julian Sands from North Hollywood, 65. The cause of death is still under investigation, pending further test results.
Sands was last seen on January 13 on Mt. Baldy, an area that had experienced severe snow and wind storms during an unusually wet winter. Search and rescue teams initially tried to locate Sands and another missing hiker, but due to hazardous conditions and the risk of avalanches, they had to discontinue their efforts. The search involved the use of helicopters, drones, and dedicated volunteers.
Celebrated for an extensive acting career encompassing over 150 projects, Sands was cherished by his family as a father, husband, explorer, and talented performer. He gained recognition for his roles in films like “The Killing Fields” (1984), “A Room With a View” (1985), and “Warlock” (1989), where he played the title character. Sands’ work also extended to television, with appearances in shows such as “24,” “Lipstick Jungle,” “Ghost Whisperer,” “Smallville,” and “The Blacklist.”
Born in Yorkshire, England, Sands studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London before relocating to Los Angeles. He was married to journalist Evgenia Citkowitz since 1990, with whom he had two daughters. During a December 2019 interview, Sands expressed his joy for reaching mountain summits, revealing that the closest he had come to death was surviving a perilous storm in the Andes in the early ’90s.