Val Kilmer has died at the age of 65.
The Top Gun actor reportedly died of pneumonia in Los Angeles, according to The New York Times who spoke with Kilmer’s daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, on Tuesday, April 1.
Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015 and featured in a July 2021 documentary about his life, titled Val, which showed him requiring a breathing tube.
The actor was best known for his performances in 1986’s Top Gun alongside Tom Cruise, in addition to portraying Jim Morrison in 1991’s The Doors and Batman in 1995’s Batman Forever.
Kilmer is survived by his two children, Mercedes, 33, and son, Jack, 29, whom he shares with ex-wife Joanne Whalley.
The star went public with his cancer diagnosis in 2017 after previously denying that he was sick. It was also revealed at the time that Kilmer was cancer-free by 2016, one year after receiving his diagnosis. The tracheostomy surgery he did undergo, however, permanently damaged his vocal cords.
In Val, a documentary narrated mostly by his son, Kilmer discussed his feeding tube in detail. “I can’t speak without plugging this hole [in my throat],” he said, explaining, “You have to make the choice to breathe or to eat.”
Kilmer added, “It’s an obstacle that is very present with whoever sees me,” before noting that he sounded “much worse” than he felt. “I have behaved bizarrely to some. I deny none of this and have no regrets because I have lost and found parts of myself that I never knew existed. I am blessed.”
The actor, who was raised in the San Fernando Valley, per The Hollywood Reporter, rose to fame for his role in Top Gun as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky. Other acclaimed roles included his turn as a villainous henchman in 1995’s Heat, a conman in 1997’s The Saint and a porn star and drug addict in 2003’s Wonderland.
Most recently, he reunited with Cruise, 62, for the Top Gun sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, appearing in an emotionally charged cameo that Cruise discussed during an appearance on Jimmy Jimmel Live! in February 2023. “I’ve known Val for decades, and for him to come back and play that character … he’s such a powerful actor that he instantly became that character again. You’re just looking at Iceman,” Cruise said on the show. “I was crying. … I got emotional. He’s such a brilliant actor, I love his work.”
In his 2020 memoir, I’m Your Huckleberry, Kilmer touched on revisiting the role of Iceman in the sequel, revealing that he asked to join the project. “As the Temptations sang, ‘Ain’t too proud to beg.’ I’d not only contact the producers but create heartrending scenes with Iceman. Forget the fact that 30 years had passed … I remembered it like it was yesterday,” he penned.
Kilmer also detailed Cruise’s supportive role in his return to the big screen. “The producers went for it. Cruise went for it. Cruise couldn’t have been cooler. And the next thing I knew I was back. Tom and I took up where we left off,” Kilmer wrote.
