Breaking: 'Top Gun,' 'Tombstone,' 'Batman' Star Dead at 65
Actor Val Kilmer, who starred as Batman and Doors frontman Jim Morrisson during his Hollywood career, has died at the age of 65.
Kilmer died of pneumonia on Tuesday in Los Angeles, his daughter Mercedes said, according to the BBC.
Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 but recovered, she said.
Kilmer’s films took in about $2 billion at the box office, according to CNN.
Tracheotomy surgery cut short his career, the BBC reported. His final appearance came in 2022 when he reprised his “Top Gun” role as the fighter pilot Iceman alongside Tom Cruise in “Top Gun: Maverick.”
Remembering Val Kilmer, whose indelible cinematic mark spanned genres and generations. RIP Iceman. pic.twitter.com/a3jQ8ENma9
— Top Gun (@TopGunMovie) April 2, 2025
“I just want to say that was pretty emotional,” Cruise said, according to People.
“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,” he said.
Kilmer played Doc Holliday in the film “Tombstone” and appeared in “Heat” along with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, according to the BBC.
Val Kilmer & Nicole Kidman
Batman Forever 1995 pic.twitter.com/AwvefK9EBd— Modern History 𝕏 (@modernhistory) April 2, 2025
Kilmer followed Michael Keaton in the role of Batman in 1995, making just one movie in the franchise.
“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,” said Michael Mann, the director of “Heat,” the BBC reported.
Journalist KJ Matthews said of Kilmer: “He’s your bad boy. He’s edgy, good looking, definitely Hollywood star looks. And I like the way he played roles. He always played them in an unconventional, unpredictable way.”
Sad to hear that one of my favorite actors has passed away. Val Kilmer, gone at 65. I think Doc Holliday was his best role👌 pic.twitter.com/jmUde2G8Qo
— John Rich🇺🇸 (@johnrich) April 2, 2025
“When Val Kilmer was attached to a project, you just knew he was going to do something interesting with that character,” he said.
“Most actors recognize there’s something different in Val than meets the eye,” director Oliver Stone said, according to The New York Times.
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