Legendary Hollywood movie star, Val Kilmer dies aged 65
- KILMER'S ENTRY INTO HOLLYWOOD
- KILMER'S LIFE OUTSIDE ACTING
Renowned American actor Val Kilmer, who rose to fame with Top Gun and later starred as Batman and Jim Morrison, has passed away at the age of 65, according to a report from the New York Times on Tuesday.
His daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, confirmed that the cause of death was pneumonia. She also shared that he had previously battled throat cancer, which was diagnosed in 2014, but had since recovered.
AFP has reached out to his representatives for further comment.
KILMER’S ENTRY INTO HOLLYWOOD
A former stage actor, Kilmer made a dynamic entry into Hollywood in 1984, playing a rock star in the Cold War spoof Top Secret!, quickly capturing audiences with his charisma.
Two years later, Kilmer became widely known for his role as the confident yet mostly silent fighter pilot-in-training, Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, in the blockbuster Top Gun, where he played a rival to Tom Cruise’s “Maverick.”
A versatile actor with a decades-long career, Kilmer balanced big-budget blockbusters with smaller independent films. He earned leading man status in Oliver Stone’s The Doors, where he portrayed Jim Morrison’s transformation from a psychedelic-loving LA film student to a 60s rock icon.
After a cameo in Quentin Tarantino’s True Romance, Kilmer went on to star alongside Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in Heat and took on the role of the masked vigilante in Batman Forever, stepping in between Michael Keaton and George Clooney’s portrayals of Bruce Wayne.
ALSO READ: Bobrisky Labels 2Baba’s New Relationship Choice as Substandard
A 1996 Entertainment Weekly cover story titled “The Man Hollywood Loves to Hate “portrayed Kilmer as a sometimes moody and eccentric figure with frustrating work habits.
KILMER’S LIFE OUTSIDE ACTING
However, a 2002 interview with the New York Times revealed a different side of Kilmer. The reporter found him to be “friendly, upbeat, and so open that he frequently shares personal details about his life,” and noted that he was quick to laugh at himself, not at all living up to the harsh reputation.
Born Val Edward Kilmer on December 31, 1959, he began his acting career with commercials as a child.
Kilmer became the youngest person ever admitted to the prestigious drama department at New York’s Juilliard School and made his Broadway debut in 1983, performing alongside Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon.
In Hollywood, the Los Angeles native sought to make serious films but found himself cast in a string of low-quality blockbusters and costly flops in the early 2000s.
After a decade or more of working in low-budget films, he was making a comeback in the 2010s with a successful stage production about Mark Twain, which he hoped to adapt into a film, when he was diagnosed with cancer.
