Kilmer was known for his roles in “Top Gun,” “Tombstone” and “Batman Forever.”
Val Kilmer, the star of ’80s and ’90s blockbusters including “Top Gun,” “Batman Forever” and “Tombstone,” has died, according to The Associated Press. He was 65.
The actor’s daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, confirmed the death, saying he died Tuesday in Los Angeles, the AP reported.
Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015 and underwent a tracheotomy, which made talking difficult for the actor.
Val Kilmer and Nicole Kidman on the set of Batman Forever (Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)
Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images
“It’s just like any other language or dialect,” Kilmer told “Good Morning America” in August 2020 about his difficulties communicating after his tracheotomy. “You have to figure out a way to communicate that’s no different than any other acting challenge, but it’s just a very unique set of circumstances.”
Kilmer, a graduate of the Juilliard School’s drama division, began his career as a theater actor in off-Broadway plays before finding Hollywood fame in the early 1980s with roles in the spy spoof “Top Secret!” and the teen comedy “Real Genius.”
Kilmer became a major star when he landed the role of Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in the 1986 aviator blockbuster “Top Gun,” alongside Tom Cruise. The film made $344 million at the box office, becoming one of the highest-grossing movies of the decade.
He followed the success of “Top Gun” with a string of well-received roles throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s: as dashing swordsman Madmartigan in Ron Howard’s fantasy film “Willow;” as rock icon Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s “The Doors;” and as gunslinger Doc Holliday in the western drama “Tombstone,” alongside Kurt Russell.
In 1995, Kilmer stepped into the role of the Caped Crusader, replacing Michael Keaton in Joel Schumacher’s “Batman Forever.” The film was a massive box-office success but Kilmer opted not to reprise the role for the next installment.
Actor Val Kilmer attends the “Fourth Dimension” premiere during the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival at the AMC Lowes Village on April 24, 2012 in New York City.
In “Val,” the 2021 documentary about his life, Kilmer said he found acting in the Batsuit limiting, saying, “Whatever boyhood excitement I had was crushed by the reality of the Batsuit … Yes, every boy wants to be Batman. They actually want to be him … not necessarily play him in a movie.”
