Age, Biography, and Wiki
Val Kilmer was born on December 31, 1959, and passed away on April 1, 2025, at the age of 65. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Tom "Iceman" Kazansky in the "Top Gun" series and as the Caped Crusader in "Batman Forever." Kilmer's biography is a testament to his dedication to his craft, with a career that included numerous high-profile films and stage performances. His Wikipedia page provides a detailed account of his life and career: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val_Kilmer.
| Occupation | Voice Actors |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 31 December 1959 |
| Age | 65 Years |
| Birth Place | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Capricorn |
| Country | U.S |
| Date of death | 1 April, 2025 |
| Died Place | Los Angeles, California |
Height, Weight, and Measurements
Val Kilmer stood at 6 feet (183 cm) tall. His weight and other measurements are not frequently reported, but he was known for his athletic build, particularly during his early acting years.
| Height | 183 cm |
| Weight | |
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Dating & Relationship Status
Val Kilmer was married to actress Joanne Whalley from 1988 to 1996. The couple had two children together, Mercedes and Jack. After his divorce, Kilmer's personal life remained relatively private, with few publicized relationships.
His mother was of Swedish descent, and his father's ancestry included Irish, German, and Cherokee roots. His parents divorced in 1968 when he was 8 years old and in 1970, his mother married William Bernard Leach.
During a brief hiatus, Kilmer backpacked throughout Europe before going on to play the lead character in the 1985 comedy Real Genius. He turned down a role in David Lynch's Blue Velvet before being cast as naval aviator Tom "Iceman" Kazansky in the action film Top Gun alongside Tom Cruise. Top Gun grossed a total of over $344 million worldwide and made Kilmer a major star. Following roles in the television films The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains, Kilmer portrayed Madmartigan in the fantasy Willow; he met his future wife, co-star Joanne Whalley, on the film's set. Kilmer starred in the Colorado Shakespeare Festival production of Hamlet in 1988. In 1989, Kilmer played the lead in both Kill Me Again, again opposite Whalley, and a supporting role in Gore Vidal's Billy the Kid.
In February 1996, Kilmer decided not to return for another Batman feature film, feeling that Batman was being marginalized in favor of the villains due to his scheduling problems with The Saint, and George Clooney replaced him as Batman in 1997's Batman & Robin. There were also reports that Kilmer had a bad working relationship with Schumacher, as another reason for not reprising the role.
In 2002, Kilmer worked on a film about the life of Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Christian Science church, and Mark Twain, one of her most famous critics. The film is about the lives and relationship of Eddy and Twain as "a quirky, tender, tragicomic portrait of two contrasting lives, set against the backdrop of the United States during the Gilded Age." Citizen Twain was initially performed as a one-man show Hollywood workshop in April 2012; it then became the basis of Kilmer's film project, his directorial debut. The 90-minute film version of his one-man stage show was released as Cinema Twain. In 2013, he reunited with his Top Gun co-star Anthony Edwards in the Disney animated movie 'Planes'. Kilmer voiced the character Bravo, while Edwards supplied Echo. Kilmer also played the role of Detective Dobson in the series finale of the television show Psych.
| Parents | |
| Husband | Joanne Whalley (m. 1988-1996) |
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Net Worth and Salary
By 2025, Val Kilmer's net worth was estimated at approximately $10 million, a significant decrease from his peak earnings in the mid-1990s. He earned substantial sums for films like "Batman Forever" ($7 million) and "The Saint" ($7 million), with his combined earnings in 1997 reaching $13 million. Adjusted for inflation, his earnings from the 1990s would be even higher today.
In 1996 he appeared in a largely unknown film, Dead Girl, and starred alongside Marlon Brando in the poorly received The Island of Dr. Moreau. That year, Kilmer starred alongside Michael Douglas in the thriller The Ghost and the Darkness. In 1997 he played Simon Templar in the popular action film The Saint. Kilmer looked forward to the title role as a change toward a more fun, less serious action thriller, while enjoying the "master of disguise" chameleon characters including a mad artist, a nerdy British scientist, a cleaner, and a Russian mob boss. Kilmer also wrote the poetry in the film. He received a salary of $6 million for the movie. The Saint was a financial success, grossing $169.4 million worldwide. In 1998, he voiced both Moses and God in the animated film The Prince of Egypt, before starring in the independent film Joe the King (1999). Also in 1999, he played a blind man in the drama/romance At First Sight, which he described as being, as of then, the hardest role he had ever had.
Also in 2004, Kilmer returned to the theater to play Moses in a Los Angeles musical production of The Ten Commandments: The Musical, produced by BCBG founder Max Azria. The production played at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood and also featured Adam Lambert. This same year, Kilmer appeared in an episode of Entourage, where he played a Sherpa whose primary source of income was growing, harvesting, and distributing high-quality cannabis, all under a guise of metaphysical insights.
Career, Business, and Investments
Kilmer's career was marked by notable roles in films such as "Top Gun," "Batman Forever," and "Heat." He was one of the highest-paid actors in the 1990s, but his reputation for being difficult to work with led to a decline in major film offers. In addition to acting, Kilmer was involved in real estate investments, previously owning a 6,000-acre ranch in New Mexico, which he largely sold in 2011 for $18.5 million. He also wrote poetry and published a book, showcasing his versatility beyond acting.
Kilmer started his film career in the comedy films Top Secret! (1984) and Real Genius (1985), before transitioning to dramatic films. He rose to prominence for playing Iceman in Top Gun (1986), Jim Morrison in The Doors (1991), Doc Holliday in Tombstone (1993), and Batman / Bruce Wayne in Batman Forever (1995). Kilmer made his final film appearance in Top Gun: Maverick (2022), reprising his role from the original film.
In 2015, Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer. He subsequently underwent a tracheal procedure that damaged his vocal cords, leaving him with severe difficulty speaking. He also underwent chemotherapy and two tracheotomies, before he died of pneumonia on April 1, 2025. He released his memoir, I'm Your Huckleberry: A Memoir (2020), and the documentary Val (2021), both of which detail his career and health struggles.
In 2012, Kilmer received a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word. He also starred in Harmony Korine's short film The Lotus Community Workshop, part of the collaborative film The Fourth Dimension. He plays a version of himself from an alternate reality: a former actor turned self-help guru. The Fourth Dimension is a collection of three standalone short films about parallel universes produced by Vice Films in collaboration with Grolsch Film Works, a new division of the namesake beer company. Kilmer noted that his addition to the list of actors, including John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich) and Al Pacino (Jack and Jill), that mock their real-life persona in fictional movies was an accident and said that, "I still love saying the premise because it makes me laugh every time."
In 2017, Kilmer appeared in Song to Song opposite Rooney Mara and Ryan Gosling and directed by Terrence Malick. Kilmer also appeared in the 2017 film The Snowman, opposite Michael Fassbender and Rebecca Ferguson and directed by Tomas Alfredson. In August 2020, Kilmer shared the screen with his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, for the first time in Paydirt. Kilmer reprised his role as Tom "Iceman" Kazansky for the Top Gun sequel Top Gun: Maverick (2022). The 2021 documentary film Val, which chronicles his health struggles and career, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to critical acclaim and later earned two Critics' Choice Documentary Awards.
As Kilmer's throat problems affected his vocal abilities, technology solutions were sought. In 2021, he collaborated with Sonantic, a London-based software company, to digitally recreate his voice using AI and archived recordings. More than 40 vocal models were created to find the closest match for future projects. For the 2022 film Top Gun: Maverick, director Joseph Kosinski stated that, despite reports to the contrary, they did not use Sonantic's AI technology in the film. Instead, Kilmer's actual voice was digitally altered for clarity.
Social Network
Val Kilmer was active on social media platforms, where he connected with fans and shared aspects of his life and career. However, since his passing, these accounts have become memorials to his work and legacy.
After several delays, director Oliver Stone finally started production on the film The Doors, based on the story of the band of the same name. Kilmer spoke with Oliver Stone early on, concerned about what he might want to do with the story because Kilmer did not believe in or want to promote substance abuse. Kilmer saw Jim Morrison as having picked the wrong heroes, who had different issues, which were not part of the creativity or inspiration. Kilmer saw Morrison's story as one that could be told "a thousand different ways" and did not want to tell it by playing the role in the style of drugs, with which Oliver Stone agreed. Kilmer memorized the lyrics to all of lead singer Morrison's songs prior to his audition and sent a video of himself performing some Doors songs to director Stone. Stone was not impressed with the tape, but Paul A. Rothchild (the original producer of the Doors) said "I was shaken by it" and suggested they record Kilmer in the studio. After Kilmer was cast as Morrison, he prepared for the role by attending Doors tribute concerts and reading Morrison's poetry.
He spent close to a year before production dressing in Morrison-like clothes and spent time at Morrison's old hangouts along the Sunset Strip. His portrayal of Morrison was praised and members of the Doors noted that Kilmer did such a convincing job that they had trouble distinguishing his voice from Morrison's. Paul Rothchild played Kilmer's version of "The End" for the band's guitarist, Robby Krieger, who told him, "I'm really glad they got 'The End'. We never got a recording of that live with Jim and now we've got it." However, Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek was less than enthusiastic with how Morrison was portrayed in Stone's interpretation.
In 2003, Kilmer starred alongside Kate Bosworth in the drama/thriller Wonderland, portraying porn star John Holmes. He also appeared in The Missing, where he again worked with Willow director Ron Howard. The next year, he starred in David Mamet's Spartan, where he played a United States government secret agent who is assigned the task of rescuing the kidnapped daughter of the president. He received Delta Force-like training in preparation for the role. Subsequently, he had a role in the drama Stateside, and starred (again with Slater) in the thriller Mindhunters, which was filmed in 2003 but not released until 2005. Kilmer next appeared in the big budget Oliver Stone production Alexander, which received poor reviews.
Kilmer was in negotiations with Richard Dutcher (a leading director of Mormon-related films) to play the lead role in a film entitled Prophet: The Story of Joseph Smith, although the project never materialized. Kilmer performed in The Postman Always Rings Twice on the London stage from June to September 2005. In 2005, he co-starred with Robert Downey, Jr. in the action-comedy film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. His performance was praised and the film was well reviewed, but it received only a limited release. It later won the award for "Overlooked Film of the Year" from the Phoenix Film Critics Society.
Kilmer had a reputation for being difficult to work with and having feuds with some of the actors with whom he worked, notably The Island of Dr. Moreau co-star Marlon Brando and Red Planet and Heat co-star Tom Sizemore. Kilmer's Tombstone co-star, Michael Biehn, said: "People ask me what it's like to work with Val Kilmer. I don't know. Never met him. Never shook his hand. I know Doc Holliday, but I don't know [Kilmer]."
Richard Stanley, who directed Kilmer for three days in The Island of Dr. Moreau before being fired, recalled, "Val would arrive, and an argument would happen." John Frankenheimer, who replaced Stanley, said "I don't like Val Kilmer, I don't like his work ethic, and I don't want to be associated with him ever again." Batman Forever director Joel Schumacher called Kilmer "childish and impossible".
Hilarie Burton, Kilmer's co-star in Bloodworth, called him "the sweetest man" and said he cut a gratuitous sex scene between them in the film because "it didn't service the story or the character", instead changing it to a scene in which their characters are enjoying barbecued ribs. "I felt so safe and cared for by that man... He made the scene about us instead of using me as a prop. That one day at work rewired my brain. Val was kind to me. A thoughtful artist. I bought some of his paintings a few years back. I hope every young actor has a Val in their life. That movie was a magical experience," she said. David Thewlis, Kilmer's co-star in The Island of Dr. Moreau said of working with him; "I spent the most bizarre 5 months of my entire life with Val Kilmer, out in the Australian rainforest, on the ill fated Island of Dr Moreau. It was so spectacularly bleak and awful it was almost wonderful. Look it up sometime. As Val wrote in his final mail to me: 'What an incredible story we lived, you and I. One of the greatest.'"
In 2014, Kilmer was forced to cancel a Citizen Twain show after losing his voice. He noticed a lump in his throat but did not seek medical care until he started vomiting blood. In January 2015, he was hospitalized for what his representative said were tests for a possible tumor. Kilmer stated on social media, "I have not had a tumor, or tumor operations [sic], or any operation. I had a complication where the best way to receive care was to stay under the watchful eye of the UCLA ICU." Kilmer was a lifelong Christian Scientist, and upon his throat cancer diagnosis referred to it in the press as "the suggestion of throat cancer", opting not to explicitly associate himself with such a diagnosis. He underwent recommended chemotherapy following his children's request despite it being conventionally against his religion.
Education
Val Kilmer attended Berkeley Hall School and later enrolled in the Juilliard School's drama division, where he honed his acting skills alongside other future stars like Kevin Spacey and Mare Winningham. His education provided a solid foundation for his successful acting career.
In summary, Val Kilmer's life was a blend of artistic talent, personal challenges, and financial fluctuations, leaving behind a lasting impact on the film industry.
On stage, Kilmer made his Broadway theater debut acting in the John Byrne working class play The Slab Boys (1983). He also acted in productions of William Shakespeare's history play Henry IV, Part 1 (1981) and in the John Ford tragedy 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (1992) both at The Public Theater. He portrayed Mark Twain in a one-man show he had written titled Citizen Twain in a 2012 production in Los Angeles.
Kilmer attended Chatsworth High School where he was friends with actors Kevin Spacey and Mare Winningham, whom Kilmer dated. He became the youngest person at the time to be accepted into the Juilliard School's Drama Division, where he was a member of Group 10. At Juilliard, Kilmer and Spacey's friendship ended over a financial matter.
In 2010, Kilmer starred in Michael Oblowitz's horror film The Traveler, in which he played the vengeful spirit of a man who had been tortured and murdered while in police custody. In November 2010, Kilmer was filming in Kelseyville, California. He was finally able to work with his lifelong friend Francis Ford Coppola and star in the film Twixt. The film was filmed mostly on Coppola's estate in Napa County. The filming was expected to take five weeks and was being independently funded by Coppola. In 2010, Kilmer appeared as the villain Dieter Von Cunth in MacGruber and had a small cameo role in the music video for Tenacious D's "To Be the Best". Kilmer spoke at the May 5, 2010, commencement ceremonies of William Woods University in Fulton, Missouri. During his week-long visit on campus, he also performed his one-man play, Citizen Twain. He received an honorary doctorate "in recognition of his creative abilities and his contributions to art and theater".
