Hollywood legend Val Kilmer has died. He was 65.
The actor was best known for his roles in movies including Top Gun and Batman Forever.
Kilmer’s daughter confirmed the actor died on Tuesday in Los Angeles after a battle with pneumonia, per The New York Times
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Kilmer had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, however had since recovered.
Tributes have started flowing in for the Kiss Kiss Bang Bang star on social media.
Actor Josh Brolin took to Instagram to share an image of the pair with a touching message remembering his friend.
“See ya, pal. I’m going to miss you,” Brolin wrote.
“You were a smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker. There’s not a lot left of those.
“I hope to see you up there in the heavens when I eventually get there. Until then, amazing memories, lovely thoughts.”
Reflecting on Kilmer’s meteoric rise, Nine’s Entertainment Editor Richard Wilkins said the actor “was certainly on a roll” through the ’80s and ’90s.
“He did a bunch of really big movies and certainly made his mark on Hollywood,” Wilkins added.
“He wasn’t one of those guys who would sort of be out and about all over the place.
“I think he probably kept pretty much to himself and he was a bit of a method actor, he really took his craft very seriously.
“At the end, 65 is too young, isn’t it? But what a body of work he’s left behind. I think Hollywood will certainly be mourning his passing.”
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, 1995’s Heat director Michael Mann said that the star’s death is “tremendously sad news”.
“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,” he said.
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“After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news.”
“RIP Val Kilmer. Thank you for defining so many of the movies of my childhood. You truly were an icon,” shared Pixels star Josh Gad on Instagram.
Clueless star Elisa Donovan called Kilmer “one of the greats”, saying he had been an inspiration in her acting career.
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“His work inspired me as a teenager in those ways that made me feel like I could do anything and I MUST,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Sure, it’ll be impossible, but it’ll be worth it and that’s the way it is to live this creative life. 🔥 Thank you for the contribution to the creative collective, movies, and art in general. It was real.”
US politician John Dennis described Kilmer as a “huge talent and interesting soul” on X (formerly Twitter). “Too soon,” he wrote.
Kilmer was the quintessential Hollywood heartthrob of his time, perhaps best known for starring as Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky opposite Tom Cruise in the 1986 box-office hit Top Gun.
The star had made his feature film debut just two years earlier, making a name for himself as Nick Rivers in the 1994 comedy/action film Top Secret!
After Top Gun, Kilmer became a well-known name in Hollywood, going on to land roles in The Doors (1991), Thunderheat (1992) and True Romance (1993)
Kilmer has a long and varied resume, with one of his more renowned roles coming when he put on the black suit to step into the iconic role of Batman.
He starred as the beloved superhero in the 1995 film Batman Forever, battling it out on screen against the Riddler, played by Jim Carrey, and Two-Face, portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones.
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Kilmer continued to work in Hollywood for years until he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014.
His condition was kept a secret from his peers and fans, until The Hollywood Reporter revealed in 2017 that the actor was in a “two-year battle with throat cancer” and that “a procedure on his trachea has reduced his voice to a rasp and rendered him short of breath”.
His career looked to be all but over when he lost his speaking voice, however thanks to modern technology Kilmer was miraculously able to return to screens.
In 2022, fans were delighted to see him reprise his role as Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky in the highly-anticipated sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.
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Although Kilmer’s appearance in the sequel was brief, it was one of the most powerful scenes in the movie and saw him reunite with Tom Cruise’s character, Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.
In his 2020 memoir, I’m Your Huckleberry, Kilmer revealed he was not initially contacted by producers to join the reboot.
He suspected his heath had something to do with it, but the actor was not going to let his diminished vocal capacity due to a tracheotomy stop him from attempting to play Iceman on the big screen once again.
Kilmer said he “begged” producers to recast him, arguing there was no Top Gun without Iceman.
“Tom was Maverick, but Maverick’s nemesis was Iceman. The two went together like salt and pepper,” Kilmer wrote in his book.
“It didn’t matter that the producers didn’t contact me. As The Temptations sang in the heyday of Motown soul, ‘Ain’t too proud to beg.'”
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