Val Kilmer, Batman Forever and Top Gun Star, Dead at 65

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Veteran actor Val Kilmer, famed for portraying characters such as Bruce Wayne from “Batman Forever” and Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in “Top Gun”, passed away on April 1st in Los Angeles. His daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, announced the news and revealed to The New York Times that he succumbed to pneumonia. She also mentioned that her father had been diagnosed with throat cancer back in 2014 but managed to recover. Known for his dedicated portrayal of Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s 1991 biopic “The Doors”, Kilmer was 65 years old at the time of his passing.

Raised in Los Angeles, Kilmer embarked on his acting career while still a high school student. At just 17 years old, he was accepted into Juilliard’s Drama Division, making him the youngest student at the time. Although he initially found success on stage, a pivotal role in the 1984 action comedy “Top Secret!” marked the beginning of his film and television appearances, which included roles in “Tombstone” and “The Island of Dr. Moreau”. In a 2021 interview with Vulture, Kilmer mused that acting is intertwined with his spiritual journey, stating, “Creating a character is part of the broader spiritual process.” He also admitted to sometimes being perceived as challenging to work with due to his intense approach to his craft, acknowledging, “I’ve always taken my work very seriously, and I realize that can sometimes come across as difficult.

The life and professional journey of actor Val Kilmer was portrayed in the 2021 documentary titled “Val“. This film utilized footage that Kilmer himself had been recording for many years. As his career progressed, he became particularly fascinated with Mark Twain, a focus that consumed much of his later years. He wrote and acted in a one-man play called “Citizen Twain“, which delves into Twain’s famous feud with Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, a belief system Kilmer himself followed. The Times reported that he started performing this play in 2010. Later, he portrayed Twain in the 2014 film “Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn“, and was planning to produce and star in a movie centered around Twain’s relationship with Eddy.

Lately, Kilmer once again played Iceman alongside Tom Cruise in 2022’s “Top Gun: Maverick,” a role that seems to be his final screen appearance. Previously, he had expressed doubts about the importance of roles in big-budget films like “Batman Forever” compared to his other work. In an interview with Vulture in 2017, he admitted, “I regret any snide comments I made about acting (with a capital ‘A’) in connection with that massive production or any other. I was insecure when I was younger, competitive, and wanted to be appreciated for my Hamlet while I waited in line for my decaf, not ‘Hey, Iceman!’ However, “Top Gun” remains the best aircraft movie ever made, and it still makes me laugh out loud whenever I see it on TV! It’s just flawless!

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2025-04-02 10:53