Who is Julian Sands? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

British Celebrities Born In January

Also Known As: Julian Richard Morley Sands

Age: 66 Years, 66 Year Old Males

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Eugenia Citkowitz (m. 1990), Sarah Sands (m. 1984–1987)

children: Henry Sands, Imogen Morley Sands, Natalya Morley Sands

Actors British Men

Height: 5'11" (180 cm), 5'11" Males

Notable Alumni: Royal Central School Of Speech And Drama

More Facts

education: Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

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Career

Since he was a child, Julian Sands had aspired to become an actor. He garnered initial experience by performing in several school productions before enrolling at the prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama in London. In the early stage of his acting career, Sands wanted to become a successful actor in classical theatre. While that changed when offers to appear in films and TV shows began to pour in, he is still active in the UK as well as the US theatre scenes.

Sands made his screen debut in the premiere episode of season 13 of BBC’s anthology drama ‘Play for Today’ in 1982. His film debut came about a year later, in the 1983 film adaptation of Peter Nichols’ play ‘Privates on Parade’. In 1985, he was cast as the male romantic lead George Emerson opposite Helena Bonham Carter’s Lucy Honeychurch in Ivory-Merchant’s ‘A Room with a View’. The film garnered universal critical acclaim and was a modest hit at the box office. It earned eight Oscar nominations, winning three. It also received five BAFTAs and a Golden Globe.

Sands followed his sublime performance in ‘A Room with a View’ by portraying poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in the 1986 horror film ‘Gothic’. While the film was not as well-received as his previous cinematic venture, his performance drew critical praise. This prompted him to relocate to US in order to work in Hollywood movies. He was cast as the eponymous character in the horror film ‘Warlock’ (1989) and its sequel ‘Warlock: The Armageddon’ (1993), Hungarian composer Franz Liszt in ‘Impromptu’ (1991), gay Swiss gentleman Yves Cloquet in ‘Naked Lunch’ (1991), and entomologist Dr. James Atherton in ‘Arachnophobia’ (1990).

In Jennifer Chambers Lynch’s mystery thriller ‘Boxing Helena’ (1993), Sands shared screen space with Sherilyn Fenn, Bill Paxton, and Art Garfunkel. In 1995, he worked with Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue in the Academy-Award-winning film ‘Leaving Las Vegas’. He portrayed “Erik, aka the Phantom" in the 1998 horror rendition of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ and was cast as the antagonist opposite Jackie Chan in the action-comedy film ‘The Medallion’ (2003). Some of his other important cinematic roles are of Greco Montgomery in ‘Ocean's Thirteen’ (2007), George Cutter in ‘All Things to All Men’ (2013), and Kotov in ‘The Chosen’ (2014). He is slated to appear in the upcoming war-drama ‘The Painted Bird’.

Sands was cast as Mayor Valmont in the animated series ‘Jackie Chan Adventures’ (2000-02), Russian businessman and separatist leader Vladimir Bierko in Fox’s action-drama ‘24’ (2006), Jor-El in The WB superhero series ‘Smallville’ (2009), wealthy international businessman Miles Castner in Showtime’s crime-drama ‘Dexter’, and historical Florentine ruler Piero di Cosimo de' Medici in Rai’s ‘Medici: Masters of Florence’. He is set to play a character named Liam in the upcoming thriller series ‘What/If’.

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Family & Personal Life

Julian Sands was born on January 4, 1958, in Otley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England to Brenda and William Sands. He has five siblings: four brothers and one sister. One of his brothers’ names is Quentin, who was picked as “Britain's Sexiest Man" of 1998 by ‘She’ magazine.

Sands has been married twice in his life. He married journalist Sarah Harvey in 1984. Their son, Henry Morley Sands, was born on September 20, 1985. Sands and Harvey divorced in 1987. In 1990, he got married to journalist Evgenia Citkowitz, whose parents are Anglo-Irish novelist and socialite Lady Caroline Blackwood and American composer-pianist Israel Citkowitz. Sands and Citkowitz’s oldest daughter, Natalya, was born on August 14, 1996. On December 31, 1999, Citkowitz gave birth to their youngest daughter, Imogen.

Julian Sands Biography