The Late Great Val Kilmer

Val Kilmer, who played Doc Holliday in the movie Tombstone (1993), Batman in Batman Forever (1995), and Colonel John Henry Patterson in The Ghost and the Darkness (1996), died yesterday, April 1 2025 at the age of 65. He had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015. The cause of death was pneumonia.

Val Kilmer was born on December 31 1959 in Los Angeles. His parents divorced when he was 9 years old. He attended  Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley. When he was 17 years old he became the youngest person at the time to be admitted to the drama division of Julliard. While he was at Julliard Val Kilmer wrote the play How It All Began, which was ultimately  directed by Des McAnuff and produced by Joseph Papp for The Public Theatre.

It was in 1983 that Val Kilmer appeared on Broadway in Slab Boys. Slab Boys led directly to his film debut the following year playing the lead in Abrahams, Zucker, and Zucker's movie Top Secret! (1984), the directors having seen him in the play. He made his television debut in 1985 in an episode of ABC Afternoon Special. In the Eighties he appeared in the TV movies The Murders on the Rue Morgue, The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains, and Billy the Kid. He appeared in the film Real Genius (1985) before roles in Top Gun (1986) and Willow (1988) established him as a star. He ended the Eighties with the movie Kill Me Again (1989).

In the Nineties Val Kilmer played several high profile roles. He was Jim Morrison in The Doors (1991), Doc Holliday in Tombstone (1993), and Batman in Batman Forever (1995). He also appeared in the movies Thunderheart (1992), The Real McCoy (1993), True Romance (1993), Heat (1995), "Wings of Courage" (1995), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996), The Ghost and the Darkness (1996), Dead Girl (1996), The Saint (1997), At First Sight (1999), Joe the King (1999), Pollock (2000), and The Red Planet (2000). He was the voice of Moses and God in The Prince of Egypt (1998). In 2000 he was the guest host on Saturday Night Live.

In the Naughts Val Kilmer appeared in the movies The Salton Sea (2002), Hard Cash (2002), Wonderland (2003), The Missing (2003), Blind Horizon (2003), Masked and Anonymous (2003), Spartan (2004), Stateside (2004), Alexander (2004), Mindhunters (2005), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), Summer Love (2006), Moscow Zero (2006),  10th & Wolf  (2006),  Played  (2006), Déjà Vu  (2006), Have Dreams Will Travel (2007), The Chaos Experiment (2009),  Streets of Blood  (2009), American Cowslip  (2009), The Thaw (2009), Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), Hardwired (2009), Double Identity (2009), The Traveler (2010), Bloodworth (2010),  MacGruber (2010), and Gun (2010). He was a voice on the animated film Delgo (2008). On television he guest starred on the shows Entourage and Numb3rs. He appeared in the miniseries Comanche Moon. He was the voice of KITT in the short-lived 2008-2009 revival of Knight Rider.

In the Teens he guest starred on the TV shows Life's Too Short, Ghost Ghirls, and Psych. He appeared in the movies Kill the Irishman (2011), Blood Out (2011), 5 Days of War (2011), Twixt (2011), Seven Below (2012), Wyatt Earp's Revenge (2012), The Fourth Dimension  2012), Breathless (2012), Riddle (2013), Standing Up (2013), Palo Alto (2013), Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn (2014), Song to Song (2017),  The Snowman (2017), The Super (2017), 1st Born (2019), Cinema Twain (2019), A Soldier's Revenge (2020), and  Paydirt (2020). He was a voice in the animated movie Planes (2013).

In the 2020s Val Kilmer starred in the documentary Val (2021), which he produced and wrote. It focused on his life and career. He also appeared in the movies The Birthday Cake (2021) and Top Gun: Maverick (2022).

Val Kilmer was such a great actor that it is hard to choose where to begin when discussing his roles. He played a diverse number of roles and he played all of them well. If I had to choose a favourite, I believe I would go with Doc Holliday from Tombstone. He brought the character to life in such a way that when I picture Doc Holliday,it is Val Kilmer I see in my head. He seems to have had a gift for playing historical figures. He played Jim Morrison in The Doors, military officer John Henry Patterson in The Ghost and the Darkness, artist Willem de Kooning in Pollock, and yet more. His Elvis in True Romance was a figment of Clarence's (Christian Slater) imagination, but Val Kilmer was wholly convincing as the King of Rock 'n' Roll. His roles included everything from the brutal right-hand man of thief Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro)in Heat to Dr. Moreau's crazed assistant in The Island of Dr. Moreau to gay private eye Perry van Shrike in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.. Ultimately, Val Kilmer could be described as a chameleon, able to transform himself into an number of roles.