Val Kilmer, the icy-cool star of “Top Gun” and its later revival “Maverick,” died Tuesday in Los Angeles, according to reports. He was 65.
The actor, who became beloved for his roles in films like “Heat” and “Willow,” was both a singular star and a veteran supporting act. In later years, he was candid about ongoing health issues that affected both his performance and his life outlook. In a 2020 memoir, Kilmer revealed that ex-flame Cher helped him through a cancer diagnosis and detailed the harrowing effects it had on the body.
USA TODAY has reached out to Kilmer’s representatives for comment.
Val Kilmer wrote candidly about life, love and ‘Top Gun’: Revisit his memoir
Val Kilmer cause of death
His daughter, Mercedes Kilmer told The New York Times and The Associated Press that the actor had died of pneumonia, a lung infection that can range in severity.
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What disease did Val Kilmer have?
Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Mercedes revealed to the outlets and later recovered, though his public battle with the disease lasted decades.
Throat cancer can cover an umbrella of different diseases and affect the vocal cords, sometimes permanently changing a person’s voice as in Kilmer’s case. The actor permanently lost his voice after undergoing a tracheotomy to treat the cancer but continued to act and write.
In “Top Gun: Maverick,” when Kilmer opted to reprise his beloved “Ice Man” character, director Joseph Kosinski told USA TODAY that, despite rumors of AI, the voice in the film was nearly 100% Kilmer.
“(Kilmer’s) voice was digitally altered and blended a little bit just for clarity,” he said.
“When I speak now, I sound like Marlon Brando after a couple of bottles of tequila,” Kilmer wrote in his memoir. “It isn’t a frog in my throat. More like a buffalo. Speaking, once my joy and lifeblood, has become an hourly struggle. The instrument over which I had complete mastery is now out of my control.”
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As with many forms of cancer, no isolated cause has been identified, though smoking, heavy alcohol use and exposure to toxic substances at work are all heavy risk factors, according to the Mayo Clinic.
In a Hollywood Reporter interview, published in 2017, Kilmer revealed the tracheotomy, along with chemotherapy, helped him recover. His Christian Scientist faith also provided important support during a difficult time, he told the outlet.
Kilmer’s diagnosis had first been revealed by Michael Douglas, who claimed in 2016 that his “The Ghost and the Darkness” co-star was battling the same form of throat cancer Douglas had been treated for in 2010. While Kilmer originally shot down the comment and called it “misinformed,” he later revealed to fans on Reddit that the news was true.
“(Douglas) was probably trying to help me ’cause press probably asked where I was these days,” he told Reddit readers, “and I did have a healing of cancer, but my tongue is still swollen altho (sic) healing all the time. Because I don’t sound my normal self yet people think I may still be under the weather.”
Kilmer’s death shocked fans and Hollywood colleagues alike, with tributes pouring in lauding the actor’s keen character sensibilities and unshakeable sense of cool.
In a statement shared with USA TODAY Tuesday, Michael Mann — who directed Kilmer in 1995’s “Heat” — said, “While working with Val on ‘Heat’ I always marveled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val’s possessing and expressing character. After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news.”
Danny Ramirez, who starred alongside Kilmer in “Top Gun: Maverick” shared a message to his Instagram story, writing, “In the brief time I spent with him on set he was nothing but kind, joyous and playful. I felt lucky to be in the same room.”
