British Actor Julian Sands Reported Missing While Hiking

By Jenna Anderson

Julian Sands, a British actor whose work includes A Room With a View, Warlock, and Smallville, has reportedly gone missing. According to new reports published on Wednesday, Sands was reported missing last Friday, January 13th around 7:30pm, after he had been hiking in the California area of Baldy Bowl. A representative from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department claimed that ground crews responded to the report shortly after, but were forced to stop on Saturday evening due to avalanche risks and trail conditions. Intermittent searches have reportedly continued, but a proper search party has not yet been deployed in more than four days. In the meantime, authorities are warning hikers to stay out of the area.

The news of Sands' disappearance was confirmed through a tweet from British film producer Cassian Elwes, who took to Twitter on Wednesday to write that "I've known since Friday that my friend Julian Sands has been missing on mt baldy. I'm devastated. A very close family friend who was an adventurer in everything he did. I've said many prayers."

Born on January 4, 1958 in Otley, West Yorkshire, Sands became an actor in the 1980s with projects like Oxford Blues and the Killing Fields. He then landed the starring role alongside Helena Bonham Carter in 1985's A Room with a View, which was nominated for eight Academy Awards. 

Upon that film's success, Sands moved to Hollywood, portraying the titular role in the 1989 film Warlock. His other projects in the decades that followed included Naked Lunch, Leaving Las Vegas, The Phantom of the Opera, and The Medallion.

In recent years, Sands has portayed Jor-El in two episodes of Smallville, and Dr. Gerald Crane in two episodes of Gotham. He has also appeared in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Elementary, and Netflix's What/If.

"I was very honored to play Jor-El, because he'd only been played before, I think, by Marlon Brando. I liked Smallville," Sands explained in a 2019 interview with Decider. "I found it very touching. I mean, it's a domestic story about people growing up. Again, I didn't seek to play Jor-El, I was just asked if I would play him, but it was a great privilege and a very dignified TV piece, I thought. As an actor, people quite often do ask you, "What do you want to play?" But I really have no idea. [Laughs.] I respond to other people's ideas about who I should play."

Our thoughts are with Sands' family, friends, and fans at this time.

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