Last week Hollywood lost the great Val Kilmer, a fascinating and immensely talented actor whose career spanned 40 years. Kilmer was born on December 31, 1959 in Los Angeles, California and passed away on April 1st at the age of 65. Kilmer’s lengthy battle with health issues dates back to his 2015 throat cancer diagnosis. He would undergo numerous procedures, rounds of chemotherapy, and two tracheotomies. Many of his successes and struggles are documented in his extraordinary 2021 documentary “Val”.
Kilmer’s movie career began with the raucous 1984 comedy “Top Secret!”. But he would take off two years later after appearing in one of the biggest hits of the 1980s, “Top Gun”. Kilmer would star in several other box office hits, but he also took on a number of challenging independent roles. His career hit a speed bump in the 2000s but he continued to work, making his final big screen appearance in the blockbuster hit “Top Gun: Maverick”.
Val Kilmer’s memory lives on through a number of movies loved by many. Whether he was playing Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, Doc Holliday, Bruce Wayne, or Jim Morrison, Val Kilmer brought a bit of himself to every role he played. And that made his characters and his movies better.
Keith & the Movies 
So, so sad 😦
Very much so. I grew up watching so many of his movies.
He went through the mill with his health, sad he went so young, but a great body of work he left behind.
Absolutely. He fought through such a tough time. But you’re right, that body of work speaks volumes.
This one hurts as he is one of those actors I grew up as he was always a joy to watch. Even in a bad movie. The fact that he never took himself seriously depending on the project just adds to my enjoyment in what he does as an actor. The fact he’ll do silly shit like Top Secret!, MacGruber, and Real Genius and balance that with classics like Heat, Top Gun, and Tombstone showed how versatile he was as an actor. I hate the movie on The Doors because the dramatic liberties it took with the story and a lot of dumb shit Oliver Stone did but he was good as Jim Morrison.
There was a period in the early 2000s where the indie stuff he was doing like The Salton Sea and Spartan that I feel gets overlooked as he was great in those films. Even in the mid-90s when he was at his most difficult showed that he can deliver the goods as The Ghost and the Darkness and The Saint are prime examples of how great he is.
With this, the passing of Dave Allen of Gang of Four and Clem Burke of Blondie, this is going to be a tough year. Thank you Val. You will always be Huckleberry to all of us.
That’s so well said. I agree on every point and liked him in every example you shared. A really tough loss.
Best Batman Ever
That definitely a hot take. 😁