Val Kilmer

Val Kilmer (born December 31, 1959, Los Angeles, California, U.S.—died April 1, 2025, Los Angeles) was an American actor known for his charisma and unpredictability, which he used to great effect in a wide range of film roles. He first gained fame for his portrayal of Iceman in Top Gun (1986) and then appeared in such iconic roles as Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s biopic The Doors (1991) and the Caped Crusader in Batman Forever (1995).

Kilmer developed a reputation as being difficult to work with, and his career took a downturn in the early 2000s. Then in 2014 he was diagnosed with throat cancer, and he required a tracheotomy to help him breathe. The procedure left him with a raspy voice. Nevertheless, he continued to act, and in 2022 his career came full circle when he reprised the role of Iceman in Top Gun: Maverick, his last film. Kilmer died of pneumonia in 2025.

Early life

Kilmer was one of three boys born to Gladys (née Ekstadt) Kilmer and Eugene Kilmer, a real estate developer. The family lived in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles and were Christian Scientists. When Kilmer was nine years old, his parents divorced. In 1977 a younger brother, Wesley Kilmer, had an epileptic seizure and drowned. The tragedy had a major impact on Val Kilmer, and he later said that “our family was never the same again.”

Kilmer attended Chatsworth High School, where he became interested in acting. He applied to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London but was rejected because he was a year below the minimum age requirement of 18. Instead the 17-year-old Kilmer enrolled at the Juilliard School in New York City—at the time, he was one of the youngest students to attend the prestigious performing arts school. Kilmer graduated in 1981.

Stardom: Top Gun, The Doors, and Batman Forever

Kilmer’s good looks—a 2020 profile in The New York Times Magazine said he had “a jaw like the sharp-cut bottom half of a stop sign, that true-Swede golden hair, a Cupid’s bow that lays in shadow of the plump convex swoop of his upper lip”—helped launch his acting career. In 1983 Kilmer made his Broadway debut, appearing in The Slab Boys alongside Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon. The following year he made his first feature film, the espionage spoof Top Secret! After the teen comedy Real Genius (1985), Kilmer starred in Top Gun (1986), director Tony Scott’s drama about U.S. Navy jet pilots. He played Iceman, the arrogant nemesis of Tom Cruise’s character, Maverick. The movie was a blockbuster and made Kilmer famous.

Kilmer then switched gears with the fantasy epic Willow (1988), directed by Ron Howard and cowritten by George Lucas. Oliver Stone later cast Kilmer as Jim Morrison, the iconic 1960s rock star, in The Doors (1991). The actor immersed himself in the role, and his performance drew widespread praise. In Janet Maslin’s review for The New York Times, she wrote that his portrayal was “so right it goes well beyond the uncanny. Leading dauntingly with his chin, projecting sexy insolence, never losing sight of the singer’s magnetism, Mr. Kilmer captures all of Morrison’s reckless, insinuating appeal.”

More notable films followed. In 1992 Kilmer starred alongside Sam Shepard in Thunderheart, about an FBI investigation into a murder on an Oglala Sioux reservation. The following year he had a cameo in Scott’s True Romance (1993), a crime drama cowritten by Quentin Tarantino. In the western Tombstone (1993), Kilmer played Doc Holliday. Others in the cast included Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp and Sam Elliott as Virgil Earp. In 1995 Kilmer took on the lead role in Batman Forever, which also featured Nicole Kidman, Jim Carrey, and Tommy Lee Jones. Although the film was a hit, Kilmer was replaced by George Clooney in the sequel. While Kilmer claimed a scheduling conflict, others pointed to tensions between him and director Joel Schumacher, who called the actor “childish and impossible.”

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Kilmer next appeared in Michael Mann’s Heat (1995). The crime thriller featured Al Pacino as a police detective and Robert De Niro and Kilmer as professional thieves. He then starred with Marlon Brando in The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996). Despite his success, off-screen issues continued to follow Kilmer. Dr. Moreau director John Frankenheimer said, “I don’t like Val Kilmer, I don’t like his work ethic, and I don’t want to be associated with him ever again.” Brando reportedly told his costar, “Your problem is, you confuse your talent with the size of your paycheck.”

Later work and health issues

Kilmer kept a busy schedule in the ensuing years. Although many of his later films were forgettable, there were exceptions. These include The Saint (1997), a thriller in which he played the suave, Robin Hood-like criminal Simon Templar, and Pollock (2000), in which he was cast as painter Willem de Kooning. In the true crime drama Wonderland (2003), Kilmer played John Holmes, a porn star who was allegedly involved in several brutal murders. He later reunited with Oliver Stone on Alexander (2004), a biopic about the legendary leader of Macedonia, playing Alexander’s father, Philip II. In 2005 Kilmer portrayed a private detective in the crime comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, and he later had a tracheotomy to help him breathe. He continued to work, and in 2022 he reprised the role of Iceman in Top Gun: Maverick (by this time Kilmer had lost the use of his voice; it was digitally altered for the few words that Iceman speaks in the film). The supporting role would be his last. Kilmer died of pneumonia in 2025 at age 65.

Personal life

Kilmer was in a number of high-profile relationships. Notably, in the 1980s he dated singer-actress Cher, and in 1988 he married British actress Joanne Whalley, his costar in Willow. They had two children, Jack and Mercedes Kilmer, before divorcing in 1996.

In his spare time, Kilmer wrote poetry, and in 1987 he self-published the collection My Edens After Burns. The book included “The Pfeiffer Howls at the Moon,” a reference to actress Michelle Pfeiffer, whom he had reportedly dated. In 2020 Kilmer released the memoir I’m Your Huckleberry; the title is based on a quote from Tombstone. The documentary Val, about his life and career, came out the following year.