Val Kilmer, star of ‘Batman Forever’ and ‘Top Gun’s’ wingman, dies at 65
The California-born actor died in Los Angeles, the city of his birth
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VAL KILMER, best known for his roles playing Batman and the ultimate wingman in Top Gun, has died. He was 65. The cause was pneumonia, said his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, to the New York Times. He passed away in Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 1 (Pacific Daylight Time), the city of his birth.
Trained at Julliard in the early 1980s, Kilmer’s early roles, with his long hair and tall frame, reflected his reputation as a rockstar badboy. His debut film role came in the Cold War spy spoof Top Secret! (1984), in which he played an American singer in Berlin involved in an East German plot to reunify the country. He hitched his ride to stardom in Top Gun (1986), playing Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, a rival-turned-friend to Tom Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. In the film, the two became allies, Kazansky delivering the famous line, “You can be my wingman anytime.”
Kilmer would go on star in Ron Howard’s 1988 fantasy film Willow, where he would meet and marry his British co-star Joanne Whalley that same year. Kilmer and Whalley had two children together, Jack and Mercedes, before divorcing in 1996.
One of Hollywood’s prominent leading men of the 1990s, Kilmer became known as temperamental alongside spats with directors and co-stars that would leave a dent on his career. 1995 would be his most commercially successful period, inheriting the caped crusader from George Clooney in Batman Forever, and starring alongside Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in Heat, one of menswear’s greatest films.
When was Val Kilmer diagnosed with throat cancer?
Val Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, which was associated with his long history of heavy smoking. The actor would later recover, but Kilmer told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 that after undergoing a tracheostomy (a surgical procedure that creates a hole in the windpipe to breathe when the usual airway is blocked) his voice was left raspy.
Why was Val Kilmer no longer able to speak?
Due to his throat cancer diagnosis, Kilmer underwent a tracheostomy that would create a hole in his windpipe to alleviate his breathing. The California-born actor would later reveal that this treatment left his voice raspier.
Throat cancer can lead to a higher risk of pneumonia due to lack of airway protection. Surgical treatments and radiation therapy can damage the tissues and muscles involved in swallowing. When swallowing is impaired, the risk of aspiration pneumonia (inhaling food, liquids and saliva into the lungs) increases significantly and can cause infection.
Celebrity reactions to Val Kilmer’s death
Josh Brolin
The fellow actor took to Instagram, writing in a caption: “See ya, pal. I’m going to miss you. You were a smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker. There’s not a lot left of those. I hope to see you up there in the heavens when I eventually get there. Until then, amazing memories, lovely thoughts.”
Michael Mann (director of Heat)
Kilmer starred in the 1995 film Heat alongside Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, which was directed by Mann. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, the filmmaker wrote: “While working with Val on Heat I always marvelled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val’s possessing and expressing character. After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news.”
Josh Gad
The 44-year-old actor took to Instagram with the caption: “RIP Val Kilmer. Thank you for defining so many of the movies of my childhood. You truly were an icon.”
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