RIP Actor Val Kilmer

Goodbye To A Hollywood Fixture

The very sad news reached us that veteran actor Val Kilmer, who was best known for films like Top Gun, Heat, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Tombstone, The Doors and Batman Forever, has just passed away after an illness. Here’s Variety‘s obituary of him…

Val Kilmer, who played Bruce Wayne in “Batman Forever,” channelled Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone‘s “The Doors” and starred as a tubercular Doc Holliday in “Tombstone,” died Tuesday in Los Angeles. His daughter Mercedes told The New York Times the cause was pneumonia. He was 65. He had been battling throat cancer for several years.

Kilmer’s reps did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.

The baby-faced blonde actor had a solid run as a leading man with a volatile reputation in the ’80s and ’90s, starring in “Top Gun,” “Real Genius,” “Willow,” “Heat,” and “The Saint.” He returned briefly to screens in 2022’s “Top Gun: Maverick” although he could no longer speak due to his cancer.

In 2021, a documentary on his life, “Val,” was released. His son provided the actor’s voice and the film utilized hundreds of hours of video he had recorded over the years, giving a revealing look at the sets he worked on and showing the actor to be an introspective thinker with an artist’s soul.

Kilmer took over from Michael Keaton for Joel Schumacher’s 1995 “Batman Forever,” receiving mixed reviews for his take on the Dark Knight.  He was replaced by George Clooney for 1997’s “Batman & Robin,” a notorious flop that nearly killed the franchise. The New York Times said of “Batman Forever,” “The prime costume is now worn by Val Kilmer, who makes a good Batman but not a better one than Michael Keaton.”

Read their whole obituary here

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/val-kilmer-dead-batman-forever-tombstone-1236354606/