Biography

She played "Beneatha Younger" in A Raisin in the Sun (1961), and its playwright, Lorraine Hansberry, died very young of cancer. A theatre in Wisconsin, the Hansberry-Sands Theatre, was named as a tribute to both.

Was originally cast in the title role for the film Claudine (1974), but her cancer forced her to drop out. She suggested her friend Diahann Carroll as her replacement.

When white actress Kim Stanley became unavailable to play the leading role of Doris in the 1964 Broadway romantic comedy "The Owl and the Pussycat", it was offered to Sands, who went on to play the role opposite Alan Alda. Not one line was changed to accommodate her race, and the casting generated relatively little controversy.

Won a host of stage acting awards including an Outer Critics Circle Award for "A Raisin in the Sun" (1959), a Theatre World Award for "Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright" (1962), and an Obie Award for "The Living Premise" (1964). She also earned two successive Tony nominations: in 1964 as Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Dramatic) for "Blues for Mister Charlie", and in 1965 as Best Actress (Dramatic) for "The Owl and the Pussycat," and an Emmy nomination for "East Side/West Side" (1964).

Her father was a carpenter and her mother a milliner. She graduated from the Manhattan High School of the Performing Arts.