Actor Julian Sands among hikers missing near Mt. Baldy

Actor Julian Sands identified as one of two missing hikers in San Gabriel Mountains

A middle-aged man in a suit and tie poses in front of a leafy green backdrop

Jan. 18, 2023 Updated 5:32 PM PT

British actor Julian Sands has been identified as one of two hikers who recently went missing in Southern California’s San Gabriel Mountains.

Search-and-rescue teams have been looking for Sands since he was reported missing in the Mt. Baldy area on Friday, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

Sands, 65, is known for his work in “A Room With a View” (1985), “Naked Lunch” (1991), “Warlock” (1989), “Snakehead” (2003) and dozens of other films and TV series. Born in the United Kingdom, Sands lives in North Hollywood.

A representative for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said that ground crews were pulled off the mountain on Saturday evening due to avalanche risks and dangerous trail conditions. The search has continued, however, using helicopters and drones, and ground searches will resume when weather and safety conditions improve.

The spokesperson urged others to avoid the Mt. Baldy area, which is currently “much too dangerous, even for the skilled hiker.”

Representatives for Sands did not immediately respond Wednesday to The Times’ request for comment.

An avid mountaineer, Sands told the Guardian in 2020 that he is happiest when “close to a mountain summit on a glorious cold morning.” In the same interview he said the closest he had come to death was in the early 1990s when hiking in the Andes Mountains above 20,000 feet with three others. A storm had blown in and “some guys close to us perished.”

Sands once conducted an entire interview from the face of the Mittellegi Ridge on the Eiger Mountain in the Swiss Alps.

“And, you know what? Mountain climbing and film making are very connected,” Sands told the Yorkshire Post while phoning in from along the ridge in 2013. “There’s always another mountain. And ultimately the point of climbing a mountain is that the mountain is within. And I think that’s true, too, of the acting experience.”

In addition to Sands, authorities are searching separately for Hawthorne resident Bob Gregory, a hiker who was reported missing by family on Monday afternoon, according to KABC-TV The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s San Dimas station told the station that the search for Gregory is being conducted in the Crystal Lake area of the San Gabriel Mountains.

According to KABC-TV, Gregory’s loved ones are worried he might have injured himself and suffered a fall, adding that police have been tracking his cellphone.

Mt. Baldy is considered one of the most dangerous peaks to climb in the United States. In recent years, its icy terrain has led to the deaths of several experienced hikers. Seuk Doo Kim, a 78-year-old South Korean hiker from Culver City, had climbed the mountain more than 700 times but fell to his death in 2017.

Another experienced hiker, Sreenivas Mokkapati, 52, of Irvine, also died on the mountain after he became separated from his group in December 2019. Authorities had suspended the search for Mokkapati at one point after a volunteer searcher, Tim Staples, 32, of La Verne, fell and died on the mountain.

Most recently, Crystal Paula Gonzalez-Landas, known by her family as “the dancing hiking queen,” died earlier this month after falling down an icy slope along the mountain, according to People.

Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.