The human remains discovered in the Mt. Baldy mountains area have been identified as those of British actor Julian Sands, who’s been missing since January. The remains were discovered on Saturday and police released the new information on Tuesday. Sands was 65.
Sands, a celebrated actor, broke through with the Oscar-winning 1985 film A Room with a View. He’s appeared in numerous productions since then, and most recently appeared in the film Seneca, starring John Malkovich.
The San Bernardino County Coroner’s office released a statement that provided a bit more context on the unfortunate circumstances surrounding Sands’ death. His body was found by “civilian hikers” in the Mt. Baldy wilderness, a 6,819 acre stretch of land in the American Southwest.
“The identification process for the body located on Mt. Baldy on June 24, 2023, has been completed and was positively identified as 65-year-old Julian Sands of North Hollywood. The manner of death is still under investigation, pending further test results,” the statement said. “We would like to extend our gratitude to all the volunteers that worked tirelessly to locate Mr. Sands.”
Per Yahoo!, Mt. Baldy was treacherous this time of year due to an exceptionally wet winter that brought intense wind and snowstorms. Rescuers in January were forced to call off the search due to the conditions, and for fear of a potential avalanche that could put rescuers’ lives in danger.
The renewed search began this month, and in a statement on June 21 his family said they will “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.”
Over the course of his career, Sands appeared in more than 150 film and television projects. Sands was born in Yorkshire, England and studied acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. He had two daughters with wife Evgenia Citkowitz, and a son with a previous wife.
In 2020 he was interviewed by The Guardian and said he was at his most happy when he was “close to a mountain summit on a glorious cold morning.” He also described being caught in a snowstorm 20,000 ft high up in the Andes.
“We were all in a very bad way. Some guys close to us perished; we were lucky.”
In a sad twist of fate, he told the publication he wanted the Rufus Wainwright cover of Judy Garland’s song “Get Happy” to play at his funeral. He wanted to be remembered as “an interesting, amusing father by my children.”