Julian Sands: Brother of missing actor fears he won't be found

Nick Sands has spoken movingly of his famous sibling ‘Jules’ who liked nothing better than being on the hills and mountains.

Julian Sands, 65, was a regular visitor to Gargrave where his older brother, Nick Sands, a financial advisor, still lives, and where Julian lived from the age of three to 18 years old, was a pupil of Gargrave Primary School, and lived with his brothers and their single-parent mother.

On his regular three times a year visit to Craven from his home in Los Angeles, he would get off the train at Skipton and walk to Gargrave, climbing Sharphaw on his way, unless the weather was poor, when he would walk along the towpath of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal to meet his brother at his office in Gargrave.

About a year ago, he walked the entire 268-miles of the Pennine Way, walking about 30 miles a day and sleeping overnight in a tent, and in the past, he joined his older brother Nick to take part in the senior fell race at Gargrave Show.

On Monday, January 30, he was due to be back in Craven, joining his four brothers for the Sands’ brothers meet up the ‘Monday Club’.

Julian is best known for film roles in The Killing Fields, A Room with a View and Warlock, but says his brother, he was never out of work, including the recent BBC Radio Four drama, The Willows, about two friends who take a canoe trip down the Danube, in which he starred with Bill Pullman.

Nick said: “Julian is often credited as coming from Otley however it was Gargrave where he firmly had his Craven roots.

“Having done well at Gargrave primary school he was fortunate enough to get a scholarship to Lord Wandsworth College Hampshire, awarded to pupils from a single parent background.

“After attending the London School of Speech and Drama he went on to act in over 70 feature films and more than 50 television shows.

“Over the last 10 years he has travelled the world do his one man show on the poetry of Harold Pinter, while more recently, his show on Keats and Shelley has had rave reviews. His films and parts were many and varied some to critical acclaim and some absolutely awful. Julian would say to me ‘that’s the life of a jobbing actor, can’t be too proud’.”

The search for Julian started on January 13 and still goes on, but Nick, who last saw his brother in October, said: “He has not yet been declared missing, presumed dead, but I know in my heart that he has gone. However sibling rivalry being what it is, it would be just like him to walk out of there and prove me wrong.

“On Monday, he had planned to join his brothers for our Monday Club for a beer in Skipton; he will be missed, and I guess we will raise a glass to him.”

The Mt Baldy range of mountains where Julian went missing has been described as deadly this winter, with at least two hikers killed in the area after falling and injuring themselves in the past month, according to the sheriff’s department.

Nick said: “When in LA, the Mt Baldy mountain range was his favourite place, he would go there as often as he could, Julian liked to say ‘I have never had a holiday but I do rest occasionally’ - well he’s resting now in a place he would truly approve of.”

He added: “It was the hills and mountains where Julian really revived, hiking in the Yorkshire Dales leading on to him climbing iconic mountains like the Matterhorn and the Eiger, technically challenging but high reward.

“When he recently walked the full length of the Pennine Way, he took just a small tent and averaged over 30 miles a day, not bad for a guy over 60.

“Last year like most years he came to Gargrave on three occasions every time walking up Sharphaw to view Gargrave and the beauty of the Craven Fault, also, not a bad effort for a guy who lives in Hollywood.”

Julian has a wife Evgania, son Henry, daughters Natalya and Imogen and his Monday night club brothers Robin, Jeremy, Nick and Quentin.

Nick said: “He has an army of friends, fans and admirers who have been fantastic in their support and will miss Jules dearly.”

On Monday a spokesperson for the sheriff’s department told the PA news agency that conditions were still too dangerous for ground crews to operate, and that searches would be conducted by helicopter only.

A statement from his family shared by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office thanked various organisations involved in efforts to find the actor, as the search operations entered their 11th day.