Julian Sands

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Sands

Julian Sands

Julian Sands at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. Born 4 January 1958 (1958-01-04) (age 53) Otley, Yorkshire, England Occupation Actor Years active 1982–present

Julian R. Sands (born 4 January 1958) is an English actor, known for his roles in the Best Picture nominee The Killing Fields, the cult film Warlock, A Room with a View, Arachnophobia, Vatel, the television series 24 and as Jor-El in the television series Smallville.

Early life

Sands was born in Otley, West Yorkshire. One of five siblings, he studied at Lord Wandsworth College in Hampshire, where his brother Quentin Sands also studied and taught drama from 2002-2004. He then went on to the Forum Theatre Company and the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, where he met his first wife.

Career

Sands began his film career appearing in supporting roles, including parts in the 1984 films Oxford Blues and The Killing Fields. He was cast as the romantic lead in the 1985 film A Room with a View, the success of which prompted Sands to move to Hollywood in 1987 and pursue a career in American films. He has since appeared in a variety of both low-tier and higher-budget films, including the title role in the 1989 horror film Warlock and the 1993 sequel Warlock: The Armageddon, and parts in films such as Arachnophobia, Boxing Helena and Leaving Las Vegas. He has done voice-overs as Valmont in the Jackie Chan Adventures cartoon for Seasons 1 and 2 before being replaced by British actors Andrew Ableson and Greg Ellis for the other seasons. He also appears in the ninth season of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate: the Ark of Truth, playing the Doci of the Ori. In the 2006 season of the television series 24, Sands plays terrorist Vladimir Bierko. Sands recently played the role of Jor-El, Superman's biological father, on the science fiction TV series, Smallville. He reprised the role in the tenth and final season of the show.

Personal life

Sands has been married twice: to journalist Sarah Harvey (who divorced him in 1987), and in 1990 to writer Eugenia Citkowitz (the daughter of Lady Caroline Blackwood), with whom he lives in Los Angeles. He has a son from his first marriage, Henry (born in 1985), and two young daughters from his second marriage.

Tall, gaunt, and particularly effective in horror and drama films, British actor Julian Sands was born in Otley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, to Brenda and William Sands. He came to the attention of NBC when the network cast him in the TV miniseries The Sun Also Rises (1984) and then with Anthony Hopkins in the television film A Married Man (1983). Sands also got noticed for his very small roles in Halløj ved fronten (1983) and The Killing Fields (1984). It wasn't until his funny and romantic role opposite Denholm Elliott in Værelse med udsigt (1985) and then his unusual role in Gothic (1986) that audiences noticed him and were fascinated with his good looks and unusual but sometimes chilling appearance. He continued work on screen in Vibes (1988), Chopin - min elskede (1991) and Steven Spielberg's Araknofobi (1990), until his most remembered role as Warlock (1989), directed by Steve Miner. The film was such a major success that he returned for the terrifying sequel, Warlock: The Armageddon (1993). His other credits include Nøgen frokost (1991), Tale of a Vampire (1992) and the title role in Dario Argento's The Phantom of the Opera (1998). Sands has more recently been in Stephen King's Rose Red (2002) and is also occasionally seen on the English stage.