Hollywood Star Val Kilmer Passes Away at 65

According to report,  Val Kilmer, who starred in 1980s and 1990s blockbusters like “Top Gun,” “Batman Forever,” and “Tombstone,” has passed away. He was 65.

According to the AP, the actor passed away in Los Angeles on Tuesday, said Mercedes Kilmer, his daughter, who confirmed the death.

Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015 and underwent a tracheotomy, which made talking difficult for the actor.

“It’s just like any other language or dialect,” Kilmer told “Good Morning America” in August 2020 about his difficulties communicating after his tracheotomy. “You have to figure out a way to communicate that’s no different than any other acting challenge, but it’s just a very unique set of circumstances.”

A Juilliard School drama division alumnus, Kilmer started his journey as a theater actor in off-Broadway productions before achieving Hollywood success in the early 1980s with performances in the spy comedy “Top Secret!” and the teen film “Real Genius.”

Kilmer rose to prominence when he portrayed Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in the 1986 blockbuster “Top Gun,” starring alongside Tom Cruise. The film grossed $344 million at the box office, making it one of the decade’s top-grossing films.

Following the success of “Top Gun,” he played a number of well-received roles in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including as rock star Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s “The Doors,” as gunslinger Doc Holliday in the western drama “Tombstone,” with Kurt Russell, and as dashing swordsman Madmartigan in Ron Howard’s fantasy film “Willow.”

Michael Keaton was replaced by Kilmer as the Caped Crusader in Joel Schumacher’s 1995 film “Batman Forever.” Despite the film’s massive box office success, Kilmer decided not to return for the sequel.

“Whatever boyhood excitement I had was crushed by the reality of the Batsuit…,” Kilmer said in the 2021 documentary about his life, “Val,” describing his experience of performing in the Batsuit. Indeed, every boy want to be Batman. They don’t necessarily want to play him in a film; they want to be him.