Val Kilmer, the Hollywood actor who starred in a string of hits including Top Gun and Batman Forever, has died at 65.
Kilmer died Tuesday in Los Angeles, his daughter, Mercedes, confirmed to The New York Times, adding the cause of death was pneumonia. The Daily Beast has reached out to Kilmer’s management for comment.
Mercedes said her father was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 but later recovered, the Times noted.
Born in Los Angeles in 1959, Kilmer’s career was initially set for the stage until his 1984 debut in the film, Top Secret!. He then continued a series of smash-hit movies, including 1986’s Top Gun.
“Remembering Val Kilmer, whose indelible cinematic mark spanned genres and generations,” wrote Top Gun’s official X account in tribute. “RIP Iceman.”
He met his wife, actress Joanne Whalley, on the set of 1988’s Willow, and the pair appeared together again in 1989’s Kill Me Again. The couple divorced in 1996.
Kilmer’s portrayal of Jim Morrison in The Doors in 1991 earned him critical acclaim and by 1994, he was announced as Michael Keaton’s replacement in the Batman series. After Kilmer’s run in Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever, George Clooney took the reins in 1997’s flop, Batman & Robin.
After being diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Kilmer underwent a tracheostomy that permanently damaged his speaking voice.
He made a return to the big screen in 2022’s Top Gun Maverick after beating the cancer, but detailed the difficult recovery process in a 2021 documentary, Val. The film was produced by Kilmer, his son Jack, and daughter Mercedes and featured clips of home movies Kilmer shot while on the sets of his blockbusters. Son Jack provided the voice for his father for the documentary.
“It is difficult to talk and be understood,” Kilmer explains. “But I want to tell my story more than ever.”
