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Val Kilmer, a brooding and versatile actor who played the fan-favorite Iceman in “Top Gun,” wore a huge cape as Batman in “Batman Forever,” and portrayed Jim Morrison in “Door.” He was 65 years old.
Kilmer passed away Tuesday night in Los Angeles. Surrounded by family and friends, his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, said in an email to the Associated Press.
Val Kilmer died of pneumonia. He recovered after a 2014 throat cancer diagnosis, which required two tracheostomy.
“I acted poorly. I acted bravely. I acted strangely to some. I didn’t deny this and never knew it existed, so I found and found a part of myself, so I have no regrets,” he says towards the end of the 2021 documentary, “Val.” “And I am blessed.”
Kilmer was the youngest actor to embrace the prestigious Juilliard School at the time he attended, and experienced the ups and downs of fame more dramatically than most. His break was a 1984 spice poofing, “Top Secret!”, followed by the comedy, “Real Genius,” in 1985. Kilmer later showed his comedy chops again in films such as “McGulver” and “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.”
His film career struck Zenith in the early 1990s, making his own name as the ghost of Elvis in 1993’s “True Romance” and as an expert in banking promoration demonstrations with Michael Mann’s “Heat” with 1995’s 1995 film “The Heat,” as well as a dashing man starring alongside Kurt Russell and Bill Paxton.
The actor who participated in the Suzuki Arts Training Method Branch threw himself into the parts. When he played Dock Holiday on “The Tombstone,” he filled the bed with ice for the final scene to mimic the sensation of death caused by tuberculosis. To play Morrison, he always wore leather pants and asked his castmates and crew to just call him Jim Morrison, blowing the doors for a year.
That strength also gave Kilmer a reputation for being difficult for him to work with. He agreed in a mood later in life, but always defended himself by emphasizing art over commerce.
“In my attempt to empower directors, actors and other collaborators to honor the truth and essence of each project, I was deemed difficult and alienated the heads of all major studios in myriad Hollywood moments.”
One of his more iconic roles, Hotshot pilot Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, on the other side of Tom Cruise, rarely happened. Kilmer was courted by director Tony Scott for “Top Gun,” but initially bald. “I didn’t want that part. I didn’t care about the film. The story wasn’t interested in me,” he wrote in his memoirs. He agreed after his role was promised to improve from the original script. He will re-reveal the role of the film’s 2022 sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.
George Clooney won the mantle for 1997’s Batman & Robin, and Michael Keaton played the Dark Knight in 1989’s Batman and 1992’s Batman Return, followed by Batman in the flashy Batman Forever with Joel Schumacher’s Goofy and Nicole Kidman.
Janet Maslin of The New York Times said that Kilmer “slammed into the straight man side of the role,” but Roger Ebert deadpanned him as Keaton’s “fully accepted” alternative. Kilmer, who finished as Batman, denounced many of his performances in the suit.
The Times first reported his death Tuesday.
“When you’re there, you can barely move and people have to help you stand up and sit,” Kilmer said in “Val.” “You don’t hear anything either, and after a while people stop talking to you, it’s very isolated. It was a struggle to get a performance by passing the suit. And it was frustrating until I realized that my role in the film was to show up and stand where I was told.”
His next project was the film version of the 1960s television series The Saint – wigs, accents and glasses, “The Island” with Dr. Moreau and Marlon Brando became one of the most infamous and cursed productions of the decade.
David Gregory’s 2014 documentary Lost Soul: Richard Stanley’s Fateful Journey on the Island of Dr. Moreau described the cursed set, which includes Hurricane, Kilmer’s bullying director Richard Stanley, and Stanley’s shooting via fax (turned back to the set as an extra with his mask on. The older actor told a younger person at one point: Kilmer wrote in his memoirs.
In 1996, Entertainment Weekly described the cover story entitled “Hollywood” by directors Schumacher and John Frankenheimer, who finished “Dr. Morrow’s Island,” as “I love hatred.” Frankenheimer said there are two things he never would: “Climb Mount Everest and work with Val Kilmer again.”
Other artists came to his defense, like DJ Caruso. DJ Caruso directed Kilmer to “Salton Sea,” and said the actor loved to talk scenes and enjoyed the director’s attention.
“Val needs to be immersed in the characters. I think Val will ask a lot of questions about what happened to directors like Frankenheimer and Schumacher. A guy like Schumacher said, “You’re Batman! Caruso told the New York Times in 2002.
After “Dr. Moreau’s Island,” the film was small, like David Mamet’s human trafficking thriller, “Spartan.” Joe the King the King in 1999. He plays 70s porn star John Holmes in 2003’s “Wonderland.” He also threw himself into his solo-man stage show, “Citizen Twain.”
“I enjoy the depth and soul that this piece Twain had for his fellow man and America,” he told Variety in 2018. “And how valuable his genius is today with always so close to the surface. And yet we fight racism and greed.
Kilmer spent his formative years in Los Angeles’ Chatsworth area. He attended Chatsworth High School along with future Oscar winner Kevin Spacey and future Emmy Award winner Marle Winnham. At 17, he was the youngest drama student to be recognized at Juilliard School in 1981.
Shortly after he left for Juilliard, his younger brother, 15-year-old Wesley, suffered from an epileptic attack in the family’s Jacuzzi and died on his way to the hospital. Wesley was an aspiring filmmaker when he passed away.
“I miss him and I miss him. I have his art. I like to think about what he created. I’m still inspired by him,” Kilmer told The Times.
While still at Juilliard, Kilmer co-appeared, appearing in a play called “How It All,” and later turned down the role of Kevin Bacon and Sean Penn in “The Outsiders,” in Francis Ford Coppola’s Broadway play “Slab Boys.”
Kilmer published two books of poetry (including “My Edens After Burns”) and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2012 for the spoken Word album “The Mark of Zorro.” He was a visual artist and a lifelong Christian scientist.
He dated Cher, married actor Joanne Holy and divorced.
He is survived by two children, Mercedes and Jack.
Kennedy reported from New York.
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