Val Kilmer, the acclaimed American actor best known for his roles in Top Gun, Batman Forever, and The Doors, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 65, as reported by the New York Times.
His daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, informed the Times that the actor died from pneumonia. “He had battled throat cancer following a 2014 diagnosis, but later recovered,” she shared.
AFP has reached out to Kilmer’s representatives for comment.
Kilmer, who began his career in theatre, made his film debut in 1984 with the Cold War spoof Top Secret!, where he played a rock star. Two years later, he gained widespread fame for his role as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, the confident yet mostly silent fighter pilot in Top Gun, where he played a rival to Tom Cruise’s “Maverick.”
A versatile actor with a career spanning decades, Kilmer effortlessly moved between big-budget blockbusters and independent films.
His portrayal of Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s The Doors marked a turning point in his career, where he captured the rock icon’s journey from a psychedelics-loving LA film student to a 1960s rock frontman.
Kilmer’s career continued with a cameo in Quentin Tarantino’s True Romance, and he later starred alongside Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in Heat. He also took on the role of the masked Gotham vigilante in Batman Forever, portraying Bruce Wayne between Michael Keaton and George Clooney’s portrayals.
In a 1996 cover story, Entertainment Weekly dubbed Kilmer “The Man Hollywood Loves to Hate,” describing him as a sometimes grumpy, eccentric figure with challenging work habits. However, a 2002 interview with the New York Times revealed a different side, with the actor described as “friendly, buoyant and so open that he often volunteers personal details about his life and is quick to laugh at himself.”
“You have to learn to speak Val,” director D.J. Caruso said of him.
Kilmer, born on December 31, 1959, began his acting career in commercials as a child. He made history as the youngest person admitted to the drama department at New York’s prestigious Juilliard School, later making his Broadway debut in 1983 alongside Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon.
Despite his aspirations to star in serious films, Kilmer found himself in a series of mediocre blockbusters and expensive flops during the early 2000s.
After years of working on low-budget films, he was attempting a comeback in the 2010s with a successful stage show about Mark Twain, which he hoped to adapt into a film when he was diagnosed with cancer.
The intimate documentary Val, which chronicles Kilmer’s meteoric rise and subsequent decline in Hollywood, premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. The film captured him struggling to breathe following a tracheotomy.
Variety described Kilmer in the documentary as “having the aura of a man who was dealt his cosmic comeuppance and came through it,” adding, “He fell from stardom, maybe from grace, but he did it his way.”
When Kilmer reprised his role as “Iceman” in the highly anticipated sequel Top Gun: Maverick, his real-life health issues and raspy voice were woven into the character’s narrative.
“Instead of treating Kilmer — and, indeed, the entire notion of Top Gun — as a throwaway nostalgia object, he’s given a celluloid swan song that’ll stand the test of time,” GQ wrote.
On his personal website, Kilmer reflected on his life, stating, “For more than half a century, I have been honing my art, no matter the medium. Be it literature, movies, poetry, painting, music, or tracking exotic and beautiful wildlife.”
According to the Times, Kilmer is survived by his two children, Mercedes and Jack Kilmer.
