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.

Godspeed Bruce Glover

Bruce Glover, who played the assassin Mr. Wint in Diamonds Are Forever (1971) and Deputy Grady Coker in Walking Tall (1973),  Part 2: Walking Tall (1975), and Final Chapter: Walking Tall (1977), died on March 12 2025 at the age of 92. He was the father of actor Crispin Glover.

Bruce Glover was born on May 2 1932 in Chicago. When he was growing up he had no aspirations to become an actor. As he painted and played football, he considered either becoming an artist or a professional athlete. He attended Carl Schurz High School and then Wright Junior College.

Bruce Glover's entry into show business was unusual. He was a model for an art class when one of the fellow art class models asked him if he would mind wearing a gorilla suit for a stage act she performed. It seems she was a stripper and needed someone who could not only wear the gorilla suit, but throw her around for several minutes. To prepare he went to the Lincoln Park  Zoo where he studied their renowned gorilla Bushman. The act took him to Tampa, Florida for six weeks.It as then that he was drafted into the United States Army. He was stationed in Korea and served form 1952 to 1955.

Once he was out of the service, Bruce Glover's acting career began. He appeared in a local production of Camino Real and then did summer stock in Wisconsin in 1957. He earned degree in speech from Northwestern University. Bruce Glover then moved to New York City. He made his television debut in an episode of The Verdict is Yours in 1958 and his film debut in an uncredited part in Never Steal Anything Small  in 1959. 

In the Sixties he guest starred on the shows Car 54, Where Are You?; The DuPont Show of the Week; Route 66; The Nurses; 12 O' Clock High; Perry Mason; My Favorite Martian; Hawk; Dundee and the Culhane; The Danny Thomas Hour; The Rat Patrol; Run for Your Life; The Good Guys; The Big Valley; The Guns of Will Sonnett; The Outsider; Adam-12; Paris 7000; Bonanza; Mission: Impossible; and The Mod Squad. He appeared in the TV movie The Over-the-Hill Gang, He appeared in the movies Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster (1965), Who Killed Teddy Bear? (1965), Blindfold (1966), Sweet Love, Bitter (1967), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Dayton's Devils (1968), and C.C. & Company (1970). He appeared on Broadway in The Night of the Iguana, Mother Courage and Her Children, and The Lion in Winter.

In the Seventies he appeared in the movies Scandalous John (1971), Bless the Beasts and Children (1971), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Black Gunn (1972), Walking Tall (1973), One Little Indian (1973), Chinatown (1974), Hard Times (1975), Part 2: Walking Tall (1975), Final Chapter: Walking Tall (1977), and Stunts (1977). He guest starred on the TV shows The Psychiatrist; Bearcats!; The Partners; Gunsmoke; The Blue Knight; S.W.A.T.; Harry O; Kojak; Switch; The Streets of San Francisco; The Feather and Father Gang; The Six Million Dollar Man; Barney Miller; Battlestar Galactica; Police Story; Big Shamus, Little Shamus; CHiPs; Vega$; The Wonderful World of Disney; and B.J and the Bear.

In the Eighties Bruce Glover guest starred on the TV shows Hart to Hart; No Soap, Radio; Benson; Small & Frye; At Ease; The Dukes of Hazzard;  T. J. Hooker; The Facts of Life; The A-Team; Our House; Santa Barbara; and Murder, She Wrote. He appeared in  the movies The Big Score (1983), Hunter's Blood (1986), Big Bad Mama II (1987), Ghost Town (1988), Hider int he House (1989), Penny Ante: The Motion Picture (1990; and Street War! (1990).

In the Nineties he appeared in the movies Popcorn (1991), Street Wars (1991), Chaindance (1991), Shakespeare's Pan 12 from Outer Space (1991), Warlock: The Armageddon (1993), Night of the Scarecrow (1995), American Hero (1997), Spoiler (1998); 6 1/2 (1998), Suicide, the Comedy (1998), and Die Hard Dracula (1998). In the Naughts he appeared in the movies.Ghost World (2001), Will Unplugged (2005), Simon Says (2006),  It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine. (2007), Broke Sky (2007), Buffalo Bushido (2009), and Six Days in Paradise (2010). In the Teens he appeared in the movies Scammerhead (2014) and Hiszpanka  (2015).

Chances are good that Bruce Glover will always be remembered as Mr. Wint, who with his partner Mr. Kidd (Putter Smith) gleefully commit murder in Diamonds Are Forever, yet he played a wide variety of roles throughout his career. In the Walking Tall movies he played a character as far from Mr. Wint as one can get, loyal, trustworthy deputy Grady Coker. In Hard Times he played a character about as far from Grady in  Walking Tall as Grady is from Mr.Wint in Diamonds Are Forever, the brutal loan shark Doty. Over the years he played a wide array of parts, including the eccentric Feldman in Ghost World, legman Duffy in Chinatown, the aspiring bank robber Scooter in the Bonanza episode ""What Are Pardners For?", and more. Bruce Glover could play nearly any part he set his mind to play, and he always played them well.

The Late Great Richard Chamberlain

Today would have been Richard Chamberlain's 91st birthday. He remains best known as the title character on the popular medical drama Dr. Kildare. He was also the undisputed "King of Miniseries," having appeared in Centennial,  Shōgun, and The Thorn Birds. He also had a movie career, playing Aramis in director Richard Lester's  The Three Musketeers (1973), The Four Musketeers (1974), and The Return of the Musketeers (1989); and playing Allan Quatermain in  both King Solomon's Mines (1985) and Lost City of Gold (1986). Sadly, Mr. Chamberlain died on March 29 2025 at the age of 90 of complications from a stroke.

Richard Chamberlain was born on March 31 1934 in Beverly Hills. Although he grew up on Beverly Hills, it was, in his own words, on the"...wrong side of Wilshire Boulevard, the wrong side of Beverly Drive, in an extremely normal neighborhood." He went to Beverly Hills High School. There he lettered in track and also took part in school plays such as I Remember Mama. He majored in art at Pomona College, but decided to pursue acting in his senior year. Richard Chamberlain attracted the attention of Paramount, bu the was drafted into the United States Army while he was discussing a contract with the studio. He served in Korea and attained the rank of sergeant.

Following his service, Robert Chamberlain studied acting under character actor Jeff Corey. He signed with legendary agent Monique James of MCA. He made his television debut in 1959 in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "Road Hog." In 1960 he guest starred on the TV shows Rescue 8, Bourbon Street Beat, Gunsmoke, Mr. Lucky, Thriller, and Riverboat. He made his film debut in 1960 in The Secret of the Purple Reef.

It was in 1961 that Richard Chamberlain began playing Dr. James Kildare on the hit TV show Dr. Kildare on NBC, based on the character created by Max Brand later adapted into a series of MGM movies. The show proved to be a major hit, and ultimately ran for five seasons. He also played Dr. Kildare in an episode of the TV show The Eleventh Hour. In the Sixties he later starred in the British series The Portrait of a Lady.He guest starred on the shows The Deputy and Whispering Smith. He appeared in the movies A Thunder of Drums (1961), Twilight of Honor (1963), Joy in the Morning (1965), Petulia (1968),  The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969), and Julius Caesar (1970).

In the Seventies Richard Chamberlain played in The Music Lovers (1971), Lord Byron in Lady Caroline Lamb (1972), and Armais in both The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974). He also appeared in the movies The Towering Inferno (1974), The Slipper and the Rose (1976), The Last Wave (1977), and The Swarm (1978). On television he appeared in the TV movies F. Scott Fitzgerald and '"he Last of the Belles," The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Man in the Iron Mask. He appeared in the mini-series Centennial and Shōgun.

In the Eighties Richard Chamberlain starred in the mini-series The Thorn Birds, The Bourne Identity, and Dream West. He starred on the short lived series Island Son and the TV movie Casanova. He appeared in the movies Murder by Phone (1982), King Solomon's Mines (1985), Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1986), and The Return of the Musketeers (1989).  In the Nineties he appeared in the mini-series The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years and Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke. He guest starred on Touched by an Angel. He appeared in the movie Bird of Prey (1995) and, A River Made to Drown In (1997).

In the Naughts Richard Chamberlain guest starred on the shows The Drew Carey Show, Will & Grace, Hustle, Nip/Tuck, Desperate Housewives, Chuck, and Leverage. He had a recurring role on the short-lived shows Brothers and Sisters. He appeared in the TV movie Blackbeard. He appeared in the movies The Pavilion (2004), Strength and Honor (2005), and I Now Pronounce Your Chuck & Larry (2007).

In the Teens Richard Chamberlain guest starred on the TV shows Leverage and Chuck. He was a guest voice on the animated series Thundercats. He appeared in the movies The Perfect Family (2011), We Are the Hartmans (2011), and Nightmare Cinema (2018). He was the voice of Highfather in the animated movie Justice League: Gods and Monsters (2015).

Richard Chamberlain was an versatile actor capable of playing  a wide array of roles. For many he will always be best remembered as the earnest, idealistic Dr. James Kildare. Others might remember him best as the charming, somewhat hot-tempered Armais in the Three Musketeers movies. Still others might remember him best as John Blackthorne, the pragmatic and individualistic English pilot, in Shōgun. Over the years Richard Chambelain played a number of heroes, including Edmond Dantes in The Count of Monte Cristo and Jason Bourne in The Bourne Identity (the first actor to do so). He could also play villains. He was David Danner, the brutally abusive husband of the title character (Julie Christie) in Petulia. In The Towering Inferno he played the dodgy electrical subcontractor whose cutting corners causes the title fire of The Towering Inferno. On Leverage he fell somewhere in between, playing the greatest thief in the world, Archie Leach, who was Parker's mentor. Richard Chamberlain was quite simply an iconic actor with an incredible amount of talent who appeared in a number of memorable roles.