Val Kilmer, with hugely diverse range of films to his name was a brilliant yet under rated actor but equally a right pain for many directors and co-stars.
Born Val Edward Kilmer on New Years Eve 1959 in Los Angeles to Christian Scientist parents with a belief system that he would also live by. It was in San Fernando High School that he attended with Kevin Spacey where be began an interest in drama with the intention of attending RADA in London but was rejected because at 17 years of age he was a year too young to be admitted. Instead he enrolled at Juilliard in New York the youngest pupil to ever be accepted and his talent was already noted by the often brutal teaching techniques.
But his film debut was unexpectedly in the broad comedy, ‘Top Secret!’ from Jim Abrahams and David & Jerry Zucker who had made a huge impact with their spoof ‘Airplane!’ and this would be of similar ilk giving Kilmer the opportunity to sing. It would stand him in good stead some years later when he would appear as Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s ‘The Doors’. It was not the only famous singer he would play with his subliminal turn as Elvis in the Tarantino scripted ‘True Romance’ being one of that’s films many high points.
His matinee idol good looks saw him with some of Hollywood’s most glamourous women that included Michelle Pfeiffer, Daryl Hannah, Angelina Jolie and Cher who he dated from 1982 to 1984. But in 1988 he married British actress Joanne Whalley , his co-star on the George Lucas fantasy film, ‘Willow’. The marriage lasted only eight years during which they had two children,
He was by now an in demand actor having appeared in Top Gun opposite Tom Cruise that became a box office blockbuster, the first of several he would star most notably as the lead in ‘Batman Forever’ in 1995 but decline to play again having felt awkward in the role. But he balanced the big screen roles with stage plays even playing Hamlet in 1988. Having already lost a lot of weight to play Jim Morrison in 1991’s The Doors he lost far more to play Doc Holliday in 1993’s Tombstone a performance that is regarded as one of his very best.
But whilst his appearance in 1995’s sublime thriller ‘Heat’ garnered plaudits it was 1995’s Batman Forever that sparked a reputation for being difficult to work with. Joel Schumacher, the director of the film said. ‘I pray I don’t work with (him) again’. It continued with the disastrous ‘The Island of Dr Moreau’ where the director John Frankenheimer simply 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.” Worse still was his co-star Marlon Brando telling him ‘You are confusing your talent with the size of your paycheck’. Kilmer rejected all of these criticisms suggesting that these people were merely covering up for their own shortcomings. And yet despite this his talent was never in any doubt by these same directors and others and he continued to be in regular demand though in increasingly less successful films and that were regularly drawing mixed reviews. But by the mid 2000’s he returned to the stage that included a one man show about Mark Twain.
But the bombshell that all but ended his career was his diagnosis in 2014 of throat cancer and intensive chemotherapy and surgery to rebuild his trachea left him with breathing troubles and extreme difficulty in speaking. The treatment for cancer conflicted with his Christian Scientist views of medical help. He subsequently appeared in a number of much smaller roles unable to take leads and his final role was the much anticipated sequel to Top Gun where his surgery and the impact it had had on his voice was written into the role to often tearjerking effect. It was a fitting send off for him.
Over the years he had become more drawn to politics and later years even saw saw him give consideration to running for New Mexico mayor where he had bought a ranch to retire,
On the 1st April 2025 surrounded by his family he passed away from pneumonia. He was 65 years of age.
related feature : Greg Tarzan Davies & Danny Ramirez most terrifying moments filming Top Gun: Maverick ….
related feature : TOP GUN MAVERICK – WORLDWIDE PREMIERE May25th 2022 on the USS MIDWAY SAN DIEGO with TOM CRUISE
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