Jack Kilmer and Mercedes Kilmer – Credit: Valery Hache/AFP via Getty Images

Val Kilmer’s family issued a statement Thursday thanking the public for celebrating the actor’s legacy following his death earlier this week at the age of 65.

“Thank you for honoring our extraordinary father’s memory,” Kilmer’s adult children, Mercedes and Jack, said in the statement (via People). “We are so proud of him and honored to see his legacy celebrated. At this time, we would like to grieve privately.”

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Following Kilmer’s death from pneumonia on Tuesday, there has been an outpouring of tributes to The Doors actor from his Hollywood peers and co-stars, including Josh Brolin, Cher, and Jim Carrey, who said of his Batman Forever co-star, “I’m remembering Val Kilmer today with great admiration for him as a man and as a generational talent who left us an enviable legacy of indelible acting performances. His greatest artistic achievements were rivaled only by the grace and courage with which he endured his life’s most challenging moments.”

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Kilmer’s Tombstone co-star Kurt Russell reminisced about their time on set together. “I thought his performance was one of his best,” Russell said. “We were always in cahoots. We were always thinking the same thing. That was a big part of why I had such a great time working with him. It was a collaboration in a lot of ways that is a wonderful thing to have.”

On Thursday at Las Vegas’ CinemaCon, Tom Cruise, who appeared alongside Kilmer in a pair of Top Gun films, led a moment of silence for the late actor. “I’d like to take a moment before we get started today to honor a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer,” Cruise said.

“I can’t tell you how much I admired his work and him as a human being, how grateful and honored I was that he joined Top Gun and came back for Top Gun: Maverick. I think it would be really nice if we could just have a moment all together and just take a moment because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us with his performances with his films. If we could just all take a moment and just think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.”

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