Actor Val Kilmer, star of Batman Forever, dead at 65, New York Times reports

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: Apr 02, 2025 12:47 AM EDT | Last Updated: 12 minutes ago

Val Kilmer, the California-born, Juilliard-trained histrion who starred successful films including Top Gun, The Doors, Tombstone and Batman Forever and earned a estimation arsenic a Hollywood atrocious boy, has died, the New York Times reported. He was 65.

The origin of decease was pneumonia, the insubstantial said, citing his girl Mercedes Kilmer.

Kilmer was 1 of Hollywood's astir salient starring men successful the 1990s earlier galore spats with directors and co-stars and a bid of flops dented his career. Over the years, Kilmer gained a estimation arsenic a perfectionist who was temperamental, intense, and sometimes egotistical.

"When definite radical knock maine for being demanding, I deliberation that's a screen for thing they didn't bash well. I deliberation they're trying to support themselves," Kilmer told the Orange County Register paper successful 2003.

"I judge I'm challenging, not demanding, and I marque nary apologies for that."

He made his movie debut starring successful the 1984 spy spoof Top Secret!  before appearing successful the goofy drama Real Genius in 1985.

Kilmer rocketed to stardom arsenic Tom Cruise's co-star successful the 1986 film Top Gun, playing naval aviator Tom (Iceman) Kazansky, and decades aboriginal appeared alongside Cruise again successful the 2022 sequel Top Gun: Maverick.

Kilmer starred successful manager Ron Howard's 1988 phantasy film Willow and joined his British co-star Joanne Whalley, with whom helium had 2 children earlier divorcing.

One of his astir challenging roles came successful manager Oliver Stone's 1991 filmThe Doors, in which helium played Jim Morrison, the charismatic and yet doomed pb vocalist of the influential stone set The Doors.

To effort to transportation Stone to formed him, Kilmer enactment unneurotic an eight-minute video of himself singing and looking similar Morrison astatine assorted points successful his life. Kilmer's ain singing dependable is utilized successful the film.

The Doors ushered successful the highest-profile years of his career. In the 1993 Western Tombstone, he played Old West gunfighter Doc Holliday.

He had 2 commercialized successes successful 1995, co-starring with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro successful the transgression play Heat and succeeding Michael Keaton arsenic the Caped Crusader successful Batman Forever, the 3rd instalment successful the Batman series.

The noisy, bloated and plodding Batman Forever was received tepidly by critics, and Kilmer was upstaged by co-stars Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey. Kilmer pulled retired of the adjacent Batman movie.

Director Joel Schumacher called Kilmer "the astir psychologically troubled quality being I've ever worked with."