Julian Richard Morley Sands (4 January 1958 – c. 13 January 2023) was an English actor. His break-out role was as George Emerson in A Room with a View (1985), and he also appeared in The Killing Fields (1984), Gothic (1986), Warlock (1989), Arachnophobia (1990), Naked Lunch (1991), Boxing Helena (1993), Leaving Las Vegas (1995),The Medallion (2003), Ocean's Thirteen (2007) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011). On television, he portrayed Vladimir Bierko in 24 (2006), Jor-El in Smallville (2009–2010) and voiced Valmont in Jackie Chan Adventures (2000–2002).

In January 2023, Sands went missing while hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles.^[2] His remains were discovered that June in the area he had been visiting.^[3][4][5]

Julian Richard Morley Sands was born in Otley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, on 4 January 1958.^[6] He was educated at Lord Wandsworth College in Hampshire, and studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama.^[7]

Sands began his film career appearing in supporting roles in films, including Oxford Blues (1984) and The Killing Fields (1984). He also had a cameo as a Greek soldier in the BBC adaptation of The Box of Delights in 1984.^[8] He appeared opposite John Hurt in the Swiss horror film After Darkness in 1985. He was cast as the romantic lead in the 1985 film A Room with a View. Following the success of A Room with a View and Ken Russell's Gothic (1986) Sands dropped out of Maurice and decided to move to Hollywood to pursue a career in American films, where he appeared in a range of roles.^[7]

Sands played the title role in the horror film Warlock (1989) and its sequel Warlock: The Armageddon (1993), the role of Franz Liszt in Impromptu (1991), the role of Yves Cloquet in Naked Lunch (1991), and prominent roles in Arachnophobia (1990), Boxing Helena (1993), Tale of a Vampire (1992), and Leaving Las Vegas (1995).^[7][9] He played Erik, aka the Phantom in the 1998 horror-film version of The Phantom of the Opera.^[10] He played Laurence Olivier in BBC Four's In Praise of Hardcore (2005), a drama about the critic and impresario Kenneth Tynan.^[11]

In television work, he voiced Valmont in seasons 1 and 2 of Jackie Chan Adventures, before being replaced by Andrew Ableson and Greg Ellis in the remaining seasons. He played the Doci of the Ori in two episodes of the ninth season of Stargate SG-1 (a role he reprised in the film, Stargate: the Ark of Truth). He played a college professor in a Season One episode of The L Word. In 2002, he starred in Stephen King's Rose Red^[12] and the Austrian ambassador Klemens von Metternich in the miniseries Napoléon.^[13] In the 2006 season of 24, he played terrorist Vladimir Bierko.^[9]

Sands played Jor-El, Superman's father, in the ninth season of Smallville, and reprised the role in the series' final (tenth) season.^[14] In 2009, he played Reg Hunt in Bollywood Hero.^[15] In 2012, he played Alistair Wesley in the seventh episode of the second season of Person of Interest.^[16][17]

In August 2011, he appeared onstage at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in A Celebration of Harold Pinter, directed by John Malkovich at the Pleasance Courtyard.^[18][19] The play transferred to the Irish Repertory Theatre, in New York.^[20] His performance in the play was nominated for "Outstanding Solo Performance" for the 58th Annual Drama Desk Awards (2013).^[21][22]

In 2011, Sands appeared in the mystery thriller film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, an English-language remake of the original version, as the younger Henrik Vanger.^[23] In 2012, Sands voiced the character of DeFalco in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.^[24] In 2013, Sands appeared as Miles Castner, a wealthy international businessman, during the eighth season of Dexter.^[25]

Sands was married to Sarah Harvey, a British journalist and author, from 1984 until 1987. The couple had one son.^[26] On 22 September 1990, Sands married Evgenia Citkowitz – an American playwright, author, and journalist who is the daughter of Polish-American composer Israel Citkowitz and Lady Caroline Blackwood – after being introduced by John Malkovich, a friend of Sands.^[27][28] The couple had two daughters.^[29] Sands was fiercely protective of his family and rarely spoke about his wife or children in interviews.^[30]

Sands and his family lived in Los Angeles, California, from 1990 until his death.^[31]

On 13 January 2023, Sands, a dedicated mountaineer, went hiking in Mount San Antonio, California, in the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles, and was reported missing later that evening.^[32][33] The initial search was hampered by severe storms that occurred shortly after Sands went missing. His car was located on 18 January. The following day, it was reported that Sands's three adult children had joined the ground search for their father. His son Henry, along with an experienced climber, was retracing the route his father was believed to have taken. According to reports, Sands's mobile phone was last tracked from a ping on 15 January, suggesting it had run out of power.^[34]

Around the time of his disappearance, Sands was believed to be traversing the Baldy Bowl Trail, "which climbs 3,900 feet (1,200 m) over 4.5 miles (7.2 km) to the highest summit in the San Gabriel Mountains".^[35] Reports state there was "evidence of avalanches" in the region.^[36] A representative of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department (SBSD) confirmed that "the air search is being resumed, but we have not been able to resume a ground search yet due to icy conditions and a threat of avalanches."^[37] The Sands family put out a statement on the 11th day after Sands went missing, praising "the heroic search teams" and their efforts "on the ground and in the air to bring Julian home".^[38]

On 25 January, Nick Sands, one of Sands's four brothers, was quoted by the BBC as saying "I have come to terms with the fact he's gone and for me that's how I've dealt with it."^[39] Henry Sands told The Times on 14 April that he was "of course, realistic about the impact on the search of the weather conditions over the last three months", in light of the 40-year record snowfall in California, and that he looked forward to the resumption of the search as the weather improved and that the search for his father continues.^[40]

On 19 June, five months after Sands disappeared, the SBSD posted an update stating that more than 80 search-and-rescue members had descended into remote areas across Mount Baldy to search for Sands on 17 June. The advisory stated that since January, there had been eight official search missions to find Sands, exceeding 500 volunteer search hours.^[41] On 23 June, the Sands family released 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".^[42]

On 24 June, hikers found human remains in the area where Sands had disappeared.^[43] The remains were positively identified as Sands's on 27 June.^[1][44] On 24 July, the cause of death was listed as "undetermined" because of "the condition of the body ... [which is] common when dealing with cases of this type."^[45]

• List of solved missing person cases
• List of unsolved deaths