Actor Val Kilmer, who was known for roles in Top Gun, Batman Forever, and many others, died on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. His daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, announced his passing, stating that he died of pneumonia. Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 and fought the disease for years. Kilmer was 65 years old.

Kilmer’s career flourished in the late 1980s and into the ‘90s. He starred as the confident, ace fighter pilot Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in Top Gun and the brooding titular hero in Batman Forever. His notable roles also included stepping into the shoes of Jim Morrison in The Doors biopic and portraying roguish cowboy Doc Holliday in Tombstone.

Born on December 31, 1959, in Los Angeles, Kilmer started acting when he was in high school. He attended the Hollywood Professional School and the Juilliard School, where he was the youngest student admitted to their drama program. His first big screen role was in the spy spoof Top Secret! in 1984, then he played a rebellious prodigy in Real Genius.

Kilmer starred in the fantasy film, Willow, played William Bonney in the Billy the Kid TV movie, then he was in Thunderheart, True Romance, The Real McCoy, and Wings of Courage. He played a skilled bank robber in Heat, starred in The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Ghost and the Darkness, The Saint, and voiced Moses in The Prince of Egypt.

He took a dramatic turn for At First Sight, he was in The Salton Sea, Wonderland, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and was in the miniseries Comanche Moon. Then he voiced K.I.T.T. in the Knight Rider TV remake, was in MacGruber, Kill the Irishman, and voiced Bravo in Planes.

Some of Kilmer’s later roles were in an episode of Psych, The Snowman, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, and his finale role was reprising Iceman for an emotional reunion scene with Tom Cruise in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick.

Kilmer wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the one-man show Citizen Twain, about writer Mark Twain. In 2020, he wrote his memoir, I’m Your Huckleberry, and was the subject of the documentary, Val, a year later.