Val Kilmer Dies: ‘Top Gun’ and ‘Batman Forever’ Star Was 65

Val Kilmer, a screen icon best known for his roles in the blockbuster films Top Gun, Batman Forever, and The Doors, has died. He was 65.

Kilmer passed away on Tuesday night in Los Angeles from pneumonia, his daughter Mercedes Kilmer, told the Associated Press.

The actor was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 and later recovered. But after undergoing a  tracheotomy, the illness affected his ability to speak.

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Born in Los Angeles in 1959, Kilmer became the youngest student ever accepted to the drama department at Juilliard School, according to his personal website.

He landed a role in the ABC Afterschool Specials in 1985.

A year later, he became a global superstar with a role as Lt. Tom “Iceman” Kazansky opposite Tom Cruise’s “Maverick” in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun.

In 1988, Kilmer married actress Joanne Whalley after meeting on the set of the 1988 Ron Howard-directed fantasy film Willow. They had two children together.

Kilmer would go on to star in several global hit films, including by playing musician Jim Morrison in The Doors (1991).

He also starred as Batman/Bruce Wayne in the 1995 blockbuster Batman Forever. Kilmer donned a Batman mask one last time for his fans, in a video posted to Instagram on Feb. 23.

And he had parts in Tombstone (1993), True Romance (1993), Heat (1995) , The Saint (1997), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), Deja Vu (2006), and other films and TV shows.

Despite his voice being damaged by cancer, he briefly returned to the screen in the 2022 film Top Gun: Maverick, and reprised his role as Iceman, marking his final big screen appearance.

Kilmer discussed his health in the 2021 documentary Val about his life.

“I have behaved poorly. I have behaved bravely. I have behaved bizarrely to some,” he said. “I deny none of this and have no regrets because I have lost and found parts of myself that I never knew existed.”