Val Kilmer Dies at 65

Val Kilmer, beloved star of iconic films including Top Gun and Tombstone, died Tuesday at age 65. Kilmer's daughter tells the New York Times the actor died of pneumonia. He had previously battled throat cancer and recovered, she says. Kilmer made his big-screen debut in Top Secret!, a 1984 spy movie spoof; two years later, he was playing Tom Cruise's rival in Top Gun. (He almost turned down the role, according to the Hollywood Reporter.) He also played such notables as Jim Morrison (The Doors, 1991), Doc Holliday (Tombstone, 1993), and Batman (Batman Forever, 1996) among many other roles in genres ranging from thrillers to period pieces, epics to heist films, horror to fantasy.

Growing up in the Los Angeles area, Kilmer's neighbors included Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and he went to school with Kevin Spacey and Mare Winningham. At 17, he became one of the youngest students admitted to New York's Juilliard School. He appeared onstage as well as on the big screen, once playing Hamlet at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, and a 2021 documentary about his life and career won multiple awards. Known for "disappearing" into his roles, per Variety, he's been compared to some of the acting greats, though he was also once called "psychotic" by a director he worked with. He is survived by his kids, Mercedes and Jack. (More Val Kilmer stories.)