Actor Julian Sands missing on trip to storm-hit mountains
Friends ‘pray for a miracle’ after British star vanished while walking in southern California a week ago
FRIENDS of Julian Sands, the British actor, said they were “hoping for a miracle” last night after the “awful news” that he went missing while hiking in southern California.
The 65-year-old, originally from Otley, West Yorkshire, has been missing in the San Gabriel mountains since Friday but searches have failed to find him. Rescuers said the operation in the snowy mountain range had been hampered by bad weather.
A ground operation was forced to halt last weekend because of poor conditions on trails, and the risk of avalanches, but helicopters and drones have been deployed.
Sands, 65, who starred in A Room with a View in 1985, was in the Baldy Bowl area of Mount Baldy, outside Los Angeles, where he has lived since 2020.
A spokesman for the San Bernardino county sheriff ’s department said: “We will schedule another ground search when the weather improves and it is safe for our ground crews.
“It is our recommendation that people stay away from that area. It is extremely dangerous and even experienced hikers are getting in trouble.”
California has had three weeks of torrential rains and heavy snowfall leading to flooding and mud slides.
Sands first made a name for himself in A Room with a View, starring Helena Bonham Carter, Daniel Day-lewis, Dame Judi Dench and Dame Maggie Smith. The actor also starred in Leaving Las Vegas with Nicolas Cage in 1995, and has made TV appearances in 24 and Smallville.
Samuel West, the All Creatures Great and Small actor, wrote on Twitter: “Please, please let Julian Sands be okay. A friend and an inspiration. Awful news.”
Cassian Elwes, a film producer said: “I’ve known since Friday that my friend Julian Sands has been missing on Mt Baldy. I’m devastated. A very close family friend and an adventurer in everything he did. I’ve said many prayers.”
The actors Rufus Sewell, Barbara Crampton, Frances Fisher and Elizabeth Perkins also shared their hope that Sands would be found. Sewell wrote: “God, I really hope he’s OK.”
The sheriff’s spokesman said: “We continue to search by helicopter and drones when the weather permits.”
He said the recent storms had brought “snow and ice conditions”.
Two people died while adventuring up the mountains in recent weeks, and rescuers are still looking for another missing Californian resident, Bob Gregory, who was hiking on the same mountain range where Sands was last seen. The sheriff’s department said search and rescue teams had responded to 14 calls on Mount Baldy and in surrounding area over the past four weeks.
Sands is a keen outdoorsman and has previously spoken about his love of nature, his “wonderful outdoor lifestyle” and how he has climbed mountains all over the world.
Friends and family had been aware Sands was missing but only spoke out after his identity was made public yesterday. Jim Piddock, an actor, called Sands a “wonderfully talented and unique man and a delightful, generous friend” and added that he was “hoping for a miracle”.