Val Kilmer, Film Star Who Played Batman and Jim Morrison, Dies at 65
Val Kilmer, Actor Who Starred as Batman and Jim Morrison, Dies at 65
A versatile leading man who earned his share of critical acclaim, he was respected as a charming but volatile individual. At times he disappeared from Hollywood for ten years.
Val Kilmer, a native Hollywood actor who experienced leading-man fame as Jim Morrison and Batman, yet whose protean talents and enigmatic personality also made him a prominent supporting player, died Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 65.
Pneumonia was the cause, said his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer. Mr. Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 and then recovered, she said.
Tall and good-looking in a rock-star kind of fashion, Mr. Kilmer actually played a rocker a few times early in his career, when he appeared to be headed for blockbuster stardom. He first appeared in features in a Cold War spy-movie spoof, “Top Secret!” (1984), playing a crowd-pleasing, hip-swiveling American singer in Berlin caught up in an East German scheme to reunify the nation.
He provided a stylized portrayal of Morrison, the symbol of psychedelic sensuality, in Oliver Stone’s “The Doors” (1991), and cameoed as Mentor — a Elvis figure dispensing advice in the imagination of the film’s antiheroic hero, played by Christian Slater — in “True Romance” (1993), a brutal drug-chase farce written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Tony Scott.
Mr. Kilmer shared top billing with Sam Shepard in “Thunderheart” (1992), an inexperienced F.B.I. agent who was investigating a slaying on a South Dakota Indian reservation, and in “The Saint” (1997), an action thriller about a suave, clever thief engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with Russian mobsters. Most famously, perhaps, in the role (and the batsuit) opposite Michael Keaton in “Batman Forever” (1995), engaging in combat in Gotham City with Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) and the Riddler (Jim Carrey), although neither Mr. Kilmer nor the film was considered a shining example of the Batman franchise.
Serious viewers will be less fascinated than ever by what’s hiding under Batman’s cape or cowl,” Janet Maslin stated in The New York Times. “There isn’t much to think about here beyond the sight of gimmick props and the kitsch of fine actors (all of whom have recently done better work elsewhere) costumed for a red-hot Halloween.”
But by then another, possibly more intriguing line of Mr. Kilmer’s career had emerged. In 1986, Mr. Scott cast him in his first major-budget picture, “Top Gun” (1986), the testosterone-drenched adventure drama about Navy training fighter pilots, in which Mr. Kilmer played the suave, cocky foil to the film’s star, Tom Cruise. It was a part that established a precedent for much of Mr. Kilmer’s other high-profile work as a co-star or a member of a starry cast. He reprised it in a cameo in the film’s 2022 sequel, “Top Gun: Maverick.”
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He portrayed the urbane, spendthrift gunslinger Doc Holliday in “Tombstone” (1993), a gory western, opposite Kurt Russell, Sam Elliott and Bill Paxton as Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp. He was a member of a gang of robbers in “Heat” (1995), an urban “High Noon”-esque modern-day story that was a showcase for Robert De Niro as the leader of a heist gang and Al Pacino as the police officer who pursues him. He was a co-star, listed below Michael Douglas, in “The Ghost and the Darkness” (1996), an African-set, late 19th century lion hunt. In “Pollock” (2000), in which Ed Harris played the artist Jackson Pollock, he was another artist, Willem de Kooning. In Oliver Stone’s over-the-top epic “Alexander” (2004), he was Philip of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great (Colin Farrell).
During his career Mr. Kilmer regularly made an impression, on filmgoers and filmmakers alike, of volatility.
“Most actors see there’s something other than meets the eye in Val,” said Mr. Stone in a 2007 interview for a episode of the TV series “Biography.” David Mamet, the playwright and screenwriter who directed Mr. Kilmer in the political thriller “Spartan” (2004), added, “What Val has as an actor is something that the really, really great actors have, which is they make everything sound like an improvisation.”
On screen, he was charismatic and curiosity-provoking, an actor who didn’t make his characters give emotional cues so easily. Off screen, he had his share of clashes, particularly in the early years of his career, when he gained a reputation for surliness and self-absorption. A 1996 cover story about him in Entertainment Weekly was entitled “The Man Hollywood Loves to Hate.”
“He alienated people by being unfathomable,” said Mr. Stone, one of many individuals over the years who reported that Mr. Kilmer turned them off before turning them back on. Robert Downey Jr., who appeared with Mr. Kilmer in the ironic 2005 murder mystery “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” admitted in the “Biography” segment that he hated him when they first met, though they became close friends later on.
“I’m sure this can’t be news to you that he’s chronically eccentric,” Mr. Downey said.
Val Edward Kilmer was born in Los Angeles on Dec. 31, 1959, and spent his youth in the Chatsworth community in the city’s far northwest section, where neighbors included Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and school friends included Kevin Spacey and Mare Winningham. His father, Eugene, a developer of real property, and his mother, ex-Gladys Ekstadt, divorced when Val was 9. His younger brother Wesley drowned in a swimming pool in 1977, an incident that haunted Mr. Kilmer for years to come.
His recollections of that loss were at the heart of his performance in “The Salton Sea” (2002), of a man haunted by guilt and searching for redemption after seeing the murder of his wife and being unable to rescue her. There are a number of places in the film where the guy simply can’t continue,” Mr. Kilmer explained in an interview with The New York Times in 2002. “I didn’t actually get back on the ground again until about two or three years after my brother passed away.
He submitted his application to the Juilliard School in New York and, at 17, was among the youngest students ever to enter the school’s acting program. At Juilliard, he and some fellow students wrote and staged “How It All Began,” which was based on the West German urban guerrilla Michael Baumann’s autobiography. In 1981, following Mr. Kilmer’s graduation, he performed in a professional production of the play at the Public Theater.
Val Kilmer,
He began on Broadway in 1983 in “The Slab Boys,” the John Byrne drama about young factory workers in a Scottish carpet mill that also included Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon. He went on to play Hamlet at Boulder’s Colorado Shakespeare Festival in 1988 and the male lead, Giovanni, to Jeanne Tripplehorn in a Public Theater mounting of the racy Jacobean tragedy “‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore,” directed by JoAnne Akalaitis, in 1992.
Mr. Kilmer’s marriage to the actress Joanne Whalley, whom he met while working on Ron Howard’s children’s fantasy film “Willow” (1988), was dissolved by divorce. His survivors are their children, Mercedes and Jack. Mr. Kilmer resided on a ranch outside Santa Fe for several decades and at one time considered a run for governor of New Mexico.
Some of Mr. Kilmer’s other notable film appearances are “The Island of Dr. Moreau” (1996), the horror film version of an early H.G. Wells novel; “Wonderland” (2003), the murder tale from a true-crime case where he portrayed the adult film actor John Holmes; and “Twixt” (2011), directed by Francis Ford Coppola, a horror writer who is on tour promoting his book when he becomes stranded in a sinister town filled with ghosts resulting from a murder of children several years before.
As with his co-actor Hal Holbrook, Mr. Kilmer was long fascinated by Mark Twain, and he spent decades researching and composing a one-man play, “Citizen Twain,” which he started performing around the nation in 2010. (Mr. Kilmer, who struggled to keep his weight down, credited his interest in Twain with finally helping him lose weight.)
He also played Twain in a 2014 film retelling of Twain’s fiction, “Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn,” and was set to direct and act in a movie he wrote about Twain and Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, whom Twain frequently criticized. Mr. Kilmer was a Christian Scientist.
In 2021, Mr. Kilmer was the focus of “Val,” a documentary film about him made from decades of archival material. His children were associate producers, and his son Jack narrated it. The film received multiple awards, including a Critics Choice Award for best historical or biographical documentary.
In a 2012 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Mr. Kilmer discussed his disappearance from mainstream Hollywood for a decade or more and accepted that his career trajectory had been unorthodox. He had interests other than acting, he explained; he wanted to spend time with his children.
“I don’t have any regrets,” he said, adding: “It’s an adage but it’s kind of true: Once you’re a star, you’re always a star; it’s just what level?”
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FAQ:
1. Who is Val Kilmer?
Val Kilmer is an American actor known for his versatile roles in films such as Top Gun (1986), The Doors (1991), Tombstone (1993), Batman Forever (1995), and Heat (1995). He has also appeared in stage productions and independent films.
2. When was Val Kilmer born?
Val Kilmer was born on December 31, 1959, in Los Angeles, California, USA.
3. What are some of Val Kilmer’s most famous roles?
Some of his most iconic performances include:
- Iceman in Top Gun (1986)
- Jim Morrison in The Doors (1991)
- Doc Holliday in Tombstone (1993)
- Batman/Bruce Wayne in Batman Forever (1995)
- Chris Shiherlis in Heat (1995)
- Gay Perry in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
4. Has Val Kilmer written any books?
Yes, he released a memoir titled “I’m Your Huckleberry” in 2020, which details his life, career, and health struggles.
5. What is Val Kilmer’s health condition?
Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015 and underwent treatments, including a tracheostomy, which affected his voice. He has since been in recovery and continues to work in film and other creative projects.
6. Is Val Kilmer in Top Gun: Maverick (2022)?
Yes, Kilmer reprised his role as Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in Top Gun: Maverick, though his screen time was limited due to his health.
7. Does Val Kilmer still act?
Yes, though less frequently, Kilmer continues to take on roles in films and documentaries. He also engages in art, writing, and public appearances.
8. What is Val Kilmer’s net worth?
Estimates place Val Kilmer’s net worth around $10 million, though figures vary based on sources.
9. Is Val Kilmer active on social media?
Yes, he has official accounts on Instagram (@valkilmer) and Twitter/X, where he shares updates, artwork, and personal reflections.
10. Where can I watch Val Kilmer’s documentary?
His autobiographical documentary, “Val” (2021), is available on Amazon Prime Video. It features personal footage from his life and career.
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