Val Kilmer Dead at 65
April 1st, 2025 9:30pm PDT
According to his family, the “Top Gun” star, “Top Gun,” “Doors,” and several other classic film stars died Tuesday in Los Angeles.
Val’s daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, told The New York Times – the first to report her death – her dad died of pneumonia. He was diagnosed with a throat tumor in 2014 and had to rush to UCLA Medical Center in 2015 to treat severe throat bleeding. The tumor was the result of oral cancer.
Val played the lead role of rock star Jim Morrison in the film About the Door and starred as Bruce Wayne in “Batman Forever.”
One of his most beloved roles was in the Iceman of “Top Gun”…the character he managed to reprise in the 2022 sequel “Top Gun: Maverick.”
Filmmakers used AI to recreate Val’s voice. Val’s voice was losing at that point due to cancer in his throat.
The cancer eventually came to remission – his daughter told NYT he had fully recovered – and Val, a devout Christian scientist, attributed it directly to his faith. He reportedly rejected many forms of modern Western medicine.
Val spoke to the Christian Post in 2017. “Many people have been healed by prayer throughout recorded history, and many are dead, even in modern medicine.”
The LA-born and raised actor was renowned for his outstanding supportive roles in films such as “Heat,” “True Romance,” and “Tombstone.” You can hear him deliver the classic line “I’m Your Huckleberry.”
Val entered the prestigious Juilliard acting school when he was only 17 years old, and after graduating he played many theatres, including playing Hamlet. His final breakout film role came in the 1985 teen comedy “Real Gnius.”
Val was survived by his two adult children, Mercedes and Jack, who were with his ex-wife, actress Joanne Holy.
He was 65 years old.
RIP
