
According to Mercedes Kilmer, Val Kilmer’s daughter, who provided a statement to the New York Times and the Associated Press, the movie star passed away on Tuesday. Throughout his career, Val Kilmer demonstrated that he was up to any challenge, whether it was portraying a cocky naval pilot or donning the Batman suit. He was 65.
Mercedes Kilmer revealed to the media that pneumonia was the cause of the deceased. Representatives for Kilmer and his family have been contacted by CNN for comment. Kilmer had recovered from a 2014 diagnosis of throat cancer that necessitated a tracheotomy, which altered his voice. In recent years, Kilmer has mostly stopped acting. However, in the sequel to the first film, “Top Gun: Maverick,” which launched him and the cast into superstardom, he made a brief comeback to the craft. Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, the smug but cool rival to Tom Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, succumbed to an illness in the sequel, which was released in 2022 after a two-year delay. The sequel skillfully integrated Kilmer’s off-screen health issues into the story.
It marked the end of one of Kilmer’s most interesting and lucrative careers, which was also one of his final film roles.
A remarkable career
Kilmer, who was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley of California, attended Hollywood Professional School before moving to New York, where, at the age of 21, he became the youngest student ever accepted into the drama department at Julliard School. He made his acting debut in the comedy “Top Secret!” in 1984. and appeared in a number of films throughout the 1980s, including his breakthrough role in “Top Gun” in 1986. Then came a remarkable run of genre-spanning films in the 1990s, including a superhero film (Batman Forever in 1995, in which he portrayed the Dark Knight), a Western (Tombstone in 1993, in which he portrayed Doc Holliday), a biopic (The Doors in 1991, in which he portrayed Jim Morrison), and a crime film (Michael Mann’s masterpiece “Heat” in 1995). His one-man stage show, “Citizen Twain,” about Mark Twain, whose writing he admired greatly and frequently mentioned in interviews, was one of his less lucrative endeavors. Comscore estimates that Kilmer’s films earned nearly $2 billion worldwide at the box office.
The iconic roles Kilmer played throughout his career highlighted the fact that his career frequently zigzagged where it could have zagged, to his detriment not only in terms of the quality of his work but also in terms of how Hollywood and the general public perceived him. For instance, Kilmer enthusiastically agreed to play Batman, but the role quickly turned him off, and he chose the forgettable reboot “The Saint” instead. In a similar vein, he appeared in “The Island of Dr. Moreau” in order to play Marlon Brando’s opposite, but the conflict with the film’s director, John Frankenheimer, was caught on camera, and Brando was disappointed when he occasionally refused to come to the set and let a stand-in take his place. In the 2021 documentary “Val,” he talked about his life and career through conversations he had recorded with his family and on film sets for years. He also showed behind-the-scenes footage from “Tombstone” and footage of the Top Gun cast partying after hours (“We were all at the beginning of our careers,” Kilmer said). Jack Kilmer read the actor’s written narration because his father was recovering from throat cancer surgery at the time. He sounded very much like his father. Kilmer showed audition videos he shot for parts he didn’t get in “Goodfellas” and “Full Metal Jacket” in an effort to impress Martin Scorsese and Stanley Kubrick, respectively, about his desire to work with specific directors. He also wrote about the long audition and preparation process he went through to play Jim Morrison in “The Doors.” In the end, he expressed excitement about what was to come in the documentary. I have acted strangely with some people. Because I have both lost and found aspects of myself that I never knew existed, I do not deny any of this and have no regrets. In the movie, he said, “I am blessed.”
In interviews, Kilmer opened up about his faith and beliefs, identifying as a Christian Scientist. The actor discussed illness through the lens of his faith in a 2020 interview with Men’s Health. “Well, a sense of universal love, a kind of power, and a different kind of love were things that were reaffirmed to me on such a level that it was almost shocking. He continued by stating that he did not “believe in death” and that “it was coming into my consciousness and my body while I was at the hospital.” From his marriage to his co-star Joanne Whalley, Kilmer left behind his two adult children, Jack and Mercedes. Both of the younger Kilmers are actors and have collaborated with their father on projects. In addition to voicing the “Val” documentary, Kilmer lent his voice to his father’s character on the Disney+ “Willow” series. He also co-starred with Mercedes in the 2020 film “Paydirt.” Despite his condition at the time of the 2021 documentary and the tragedies he endured, such as the death of his younger brother when he was 15 years old, Kilmer claimed to have led a “magical life.” He said that even though he had to deal with fans repeatedly asking for the same “You can be my wingman” autograph at Comic-Con that was inspired by “Top Gun,” he found the bright side. He stated,
“I feel grateful.”