Actor Val Kilmer, who starred in some of the biggest movies of the 1980s and 90s, including Top Gun and Batman Forever, has died at the age of 65.
He also appeared in 1991’s The Doors – playing the legendary band’s frontman Jim Morrison – plus the Western Tombstone and crime drama Heat.
Kilmer died of pneumonia on Tuesday in Los Angeles, his daughter Mercedes told US media. She said her father had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 but later recovered.
Tracheotomy surgery affected his voice and curtailed his acting career, but he returned to the screen to reprise his role as fighter pilot Iceman alongside Tom Cruise in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick.
‘Smart, challenging, brave’
Paying tribute, Heat director Michael Mann said: “While working with Val on Heat I always marvelled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val’s possessing and expressing character.
“After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news,” Mann wrote on Instagram.
Actor Josh Gad posted: “RIP Val Kilmer. Thank you for defining so many of the movies of my childhood. You truly were an icon.”
“See ya, pal. I’m going to miss you”, US actor Josh Brolin wrote alongside a picture of himself and Kilmer on Instagram.
“You were a smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker. There’s not a lot left of those”, he added.
Actor James Woods wrote: “His rendition of Doc Holliday in Tombstone was what every actor dreams of achieving. So many wonderful performances. Sad to lose him so soon.”
Will Kemp, who appeared in 2004 film Mindhunters with Kilmer, wrote: “So many great memories of working with him. He was fun, unpredictable, generous and overall very kind to me when I was very new to the job.”
Born Val Edward Kilmer on 31 December 1959, Kilmer grew up in a middle-class family in Los Angeles.
His parents were Christian Scientists, a movement to which Kilmer would adhere for the rest of his life.
Aged 17, he became the then-youngest pupil to enrol at the Julliard School, in New York, one of the world’s most prestigious drama conservatories.
He made his name in the comedies Top Secret! in 1984 and Real Genius the following year, before cementing his acting credentials as Iceman, the nemesis to Crusie’s character Maverick in 1986’s Top Gun, one of the decade’s defining movies.
Kilmer went on to star in fantasy Willow and crime thriller Kill Me Again – both alongside British actress Joanne Whalley, who he married in 1988. The couple had two children.
He further proved his dynamic and versatile talents when he convincingly portrayed rock frontman Morrison in The Doors, 20 years after the singer’s death.
Tombstone, in which Kilmer played gunfighter Doc Holliday, and Heat, in which he appeared alongside Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, were also hits.
He took over Batman’s cape from Michael Keaton for Batman Forever in 1995, which achieved box office success but mixed reviews, and Kilmer pulled out of the next Batman movie.
In 1997, he appeared in The Saint as the master criminal and master of disguise – based on Leslie Charteris’ books, which had also inspired the 1960s TV show starring Roger Moore.
Kilmer voiced both God and Moses in animated film The Prince of Egypt, and starred as Marlon Brando’s crazed sidekick inThe Island of Dr Moreau in 1996 – but that film became one of Hollywood’s most notorious flops.
Its director John Frankenheimer declared he would never work again with Kilmer, who had gained a reputation for being difficult on set.
He played a gay private detective who teamed up with Robert Downey Jr’s petty thief in 2005’s Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.
In 2021, Kilmer released a documentary chronicling the highs and lows of his life and career. Val, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, features 40 years of home recordings, including him speaking with a voice box post-cancer surgery.
He had continued acting, but his comeback with a cameo appearance as Iceman in the long-awaited Top Gun sequel was particularly poignant.
Cruise said at the time: “I’ve known Val for decades, and for him to come back and play that character… he’s such a powerful actor that he instantly became that character again.”
Kilmer was also an artist, often creating paintings inspired by his film roles.
‘You knew he was going to do something interesting’
Film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that his role in The Doors summed up his appeal and persona.
“There was something sort of dark and troubling and sensual and kind of self-destructive about him,” she said.
“It was a quality that meant he was never just the bland Hollywood pretty boy that led so many roles. There was something else going on underneath the surface.”
US entertainment journalist KJ Matthews echoed that, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: “He’s your bad boy, he’s edgy, good looking, definitely Hollywood star looks.
“And I like the way he played roles. He always played them in an unconventional, unpredictable way.
“When Val Kilmer was attached to a project, you just knew he was going to do something interesting with that character.”
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