Sands, who was best known for his roles in the Oscar-winning film A Room With A View and TV dramas 24 and Smallville, disappeared on January 13
British actor Julian Sands, who went missing on a hike in January, has now been confirmed dead after human remains found in mountains in California have been confirmed to be his. Walkers found the remains on Saturday, police said, and they have now been formally identified, reports Reuters.
The 64-year-old Sands, who was best known for his roles in the Oscar-winning film A Room With A View and TV dramas 24 and Smallville, disappeared on January 13 during bad weather in the Baldy Bowl area of the San Gabriel Mountains.
Now, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said the remains found in the Mount Baldy area at the weekend had been positively identified as the missing actor. "The manner of death is still under investigation, pending further test results. We would like to extend our gratitude to all the volunteers that worked tirelessly to try to locate Mr Sands," they said in a statement.
Last week, the star's family thanked the Californian authorities for their efforts in trying to locate him.
"We are deeply grateful to the search teams and coordinators who have worked tirelessly to find Julian," they said. "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," they added, reports BBC.
Born in Otley, Yorkshire, and educated at Lord Wandsworth College in Hampshire, Sands started his acting career with roles in such films as the The Killing Fields. That brought him to the attention of director James Ivory, who cast him, ahead of the likes of Rupert Everett, in the 1985 film adaptation of EM Forster's novel A Room With A View.
The film, which also featured Dame Maggie Smith, Daniel Day-Lewis and Dame Judi Dench, was a box office hit and won Oscar, Bafta and Golden Globe awards. The British Film Institute has named it one of its top 100 British films.
Later, Sands played the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in Ken Russell's psychological thriller Gothic, before moving to Hollywood.
Sands was previously married to Sarah Sands, former editor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme, with whom he also had a son.