The legendary Val Kilmer, undoubtedly one of the greatest actors of our time (and a symbol of artistic perseverance in his final years), has died. The actor, artist and unstoppable creative force, who first hit the big screen in the 1984 comedy Top Secret!, was 65.
According to the New York Times, Kilmer, who returned to his iconic role as Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky with heart-wrenching impact in 2022’s blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, passed away Tuesday. The publication referenced a statement from Val’s daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, who revealed that her father died from pneumonia. Back in 2017, Kilmer appeared with both his children, Jack and Mercedes, for a photo shoot linked to a Hollywood Reporter article about his struggle with throat cancer.
“Fame is sort of a mess,” Kilmer said at the time. “You get treated differently, but it doesn’t have anything to do with who you actually are.”
Trying to single out Kilmer’s best roles would mean listing his entire filmography, as the Los Angeles-born actor brought incredible talent to every character fortunate enough to be played by him. Within just a decade, Kilmer delivered an amazing streak of unforgettable performances in Top Gun, Willow, The Doors, Thunderheart, Tombstone, True Romance, Batman Forever, and Heat.
The latter, directed by Michael Mann, is widely regarded as one of the greatest (if not the greatest) crime films ever made. Kilmer himself shared this view, once offering plenty of warm memories about working with Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Ashley Judd during a Reddit AMA.
“We all work hard but when you are with the icons, you get really squared away,” Kilmer told fans about his Heat experience.
Looking at his later career, Kilmer starred alongside Robert Downey Jr. in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, 50 Cent in Streets of Blood, Nicolas Cage in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, and Will Forte in MacGruber.
In 2021, Val, a documentary partly filmed by the actor himself, was released to rave reviews following its Cannes Film Festival debut. The film gave fans an incredibly honest look at Kilmer’s personal life and creative process, adding another layer to an already complex artist who would the following year bring audiences to tears with a brief but powerful scene alongside Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick.
Michael Mann, Francis Ford Coppola (who directed Kilmer in 2011’s Twixt), film critic Richard Roeper, and many others shared tributes to Kilmer after news of his passing broke. Check them out below.
Rest easy, Val. You were everyone’s huckleberry.
