Val Kilmer, Hollywood icon, dies aged 65
The star of iconic films such as Top Gun and The Doors, Hollywood legend Val Kilmer has passed away at the age of 65.
Since 2014, the actor struggled with health issues following the detection of a possible tumour, which resulted in a battle with throat cancer. Although he recovered from the complications of the treatment, Kilmer’s ability to speak was severely impacted, which is why he had to use a voice box.
According to a statement from his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, the Batman Forever star passed away in Los Angeles on April 1st, 2025, due to pneumonia.
Once called “the most unsung leading man of his generation” by none other than Roger Ebert, Kilmer’s filmography is stacked with wonderful projects, ranging from True Romance to Michael Mann’s blistering neo-noir Heat.
While his acting output significantly thinned out in the last decade of his career, Kilmer had a positive outlook on the overall trajectory of his life.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, he said: “Well, I don’t have any regrets, but there are two to three jobs, that if you do those action movies, you’re secured as a certain global stature. 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? And I was in some big, wonderful movies and enjoyed a lot of success, but I didn’t sort of secure that position.”
Adding, “One of the consequences of that is having to be in, or at least for the objectives I was pursuing for a lot of conservationist campaigns, just making a lot of living without any kind of standards regarding the acting or the material.”
The final acting credit in his filmography is the mega-successful Top Gun: Maverick, but for fans who have followed his entire career, the 2021 documentary Val will be the significant highlight from the last years of his life.
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