Val Kilmer, Batman Forever and Top Gun star, dies at 65 after long battle with cancer

Hollywood actor Val Kilmer, known for his roles in films such as Batman Forever and Top Gun, has died at the age of 65. The news was reported first by the New York Times.

Val Kilmer dies at 65

Val, who rose to fame for playing the competitive naval aviator Tom Iceman Kazansky alongside Tom Cruise in the 1986 mega box-office hit Top Gun, died of pneumonia in Los Angeles, his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, told The New York Times.

He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014. Val, a documentary about his life that premiered at Cannes in July 2021, showed him needing a breathing tube.

In the report, his daughter shared that Val was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 and later recovered.

Val’s marriage to actor Joanne Whalley, whom he met on the set of Ron Howard’s children’s fantasy film Willow (1988), ended in divorce. His survivors include their children, Mercedes and Jack. Val lived on a ranch near Santa Fe for many years.

Val Kilmer’s cinematic legacy

Val is also known for playing the role of Bruce Wayne in Batman Forever, channeled as Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone‘s The Doors and starred in several other 1980s favourites.

Over the years, he created a special place for himself in Hollywood with projects such as Top Gun, Real Genius, Tombstone, Heat, and The Saint. He reprised his hit role with 2021’s Top Gun: Maverick, although he could no longer speak due to his cancer.

He took over from Michael Keaton for Joel Schumacher’s 1995 Batman Forever, and got mixed reviews. He was replaced by George Clooney for Batman & Robin.

Born in Los Angeles, Val was raised in Chatsworth and attended Hollywood Professional School and the Julliard School. He appeared off Broadway in The Slab Boys, co-starring with Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon. His first TV role was in the after-school special One Too Many, which also starred Michelle Pfeiffer.

In 2012, Val received a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word for an audio production of Zorro. His memoir, titled I’m Your Huckleberry named for a line in Tombstone, was published in 2020.