Val Kilmer (1959-2025)
Val Kilmer, the legendary actor known for his roles in "Top Gun," "The Doors," "Tombstone," and "Batman Forever," has died at the age of 65. His daughter, Mercedes, told the US media that the actor had passed away from pneumonia.
Kilmer was born on 31st December 1959 in Los Angeles to a middle-class family. He was the youngest student admitted to the Juilliard School acting program. His first roles were "Top Secret!" and "Real Genius." However, his breakthrough performance came in "Top Gun," where he played the arrogant naval pilot Iceman alongside Tom Cruise.
In 1991, he established his leading man position by playing the legendary rock star Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's biopic "The Doors." He followed it up with a star-studded run of '90s films, such as "Tombstone," "True Romance," and "Heat" opposite Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. In 1995, Kilmer received the biggest challenge of his acting career when he replaced Michael Keaton as the caped crusader in "Batman Forever." The film grossed at the box office but received mixed reviews, and Kilmer declined to appear in the next Batman movie. Instead, he starred as the master criminal and master of disguise in 1997's "The Saint," based on the books by Leslie Charteris, which also inspired the 1960s TV series starring Roger Moore. In 1998, he also voiced Moses and God in the DreamWorks animated movie "The Prince of Egypt." With several films like "The Island of Dr. Moreau" and "Red Planet" underperforming and his reputation for being difficult on set, Kilmer's stardom began to falter.
Throughout the 2000s, he mostly worked in smaller indie films, including "The Salton Sea" and "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" opposite Robert Downey Jr., or supporting roles in much bigger films like Oliver Stone's "Alexander" and "Deja Vu." He starred as John Holmes, a porn star, in "Wonderland" and appeared with Nicolas Cage in "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans."
In later years, he faced health issues and was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014. Though he recovered after several surgeries, his voice was never the same. Kilmer starred in several direct-to-video films where another actor dubbed his character's voice. In 2021, he did a retrospective on his career in the documentary "Val." But his last appearance on the big screen is back where it all started, a cameo role alongside Tom Cruise in 2022's "Top Gun: Maverick."
Kilmer was married to British actress Joanna Whalley, with whom they had co-starred in movies like "Willow" and "Kill Me Again." The couple had two children, Mercedes and Jack. But after eight years of marriage, they divorced.
