Val Kilmer, the actor who brought swagger to Top Gun as Iceman and slipped into Batman’s cape in Batman Forever, died Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at age 65. His daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, confirmed to The New York Times early Wednesday that he passed away from pneumonia in Los Angeles, ending a life marked by big-screen highs and a tough fight with throat cancer. By, April 2, the news is rippling fast, though some fans are still asking if it’s real—especially since it hit right after April Fools’ Day.
Kilmer’s death came fast. Mercedes told magazine he’d been pneumonia-free until recently, though he’d battled throat cancer since 2014—fighting it off with chemo, radiation, and a tracheotomy that left his voice a raspy whisper. “He was doing okay,” she said. “But this hit hard and fast.” The Hollywood Reporter noted he died at home, surrounded by family—Mercedes, 33, and son Jack, 29, from his marriage to actress Joanne Whalley, which ended in 1996. No fancy hospital. Just a quiet exit for a man who once lit up theaters worldwide.
Born December 31, 1959, in Los Angeles, Kilmer climbed from Juilliard’s drama program—the youngest kid ever accepted there—to 1980s fame with Top Secret! and Real Genius. Then came 1986’s Top Gun, where he played Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, the cool rival to Tom Cruise’s Maverick. That smirk, that slick hair—it made him a star.
He nailed Jim Morrison in 1991’s The Doors, singing so well the band couldn’t tell it wasn’t Jim. In 1993, he stole Tombstone as Doc Holliday, all sharp lines and slow drawl. And in 1995, he was Batman—moody, masked, and magnetic—pulling in $336 million despite mixed reviews.
But Kilmer’s rep took hits. Directors like Joel Schumacher (Batman Forever) and John Frankenheimer (The Island of Dr. Moreau) called him tough to work with—Schumacher once said he’d never team up again. Still, his films made nearly $2 billion, and he kept showing up, including in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick. That reunion with Cruise was a gut-punch—Kilmer’s real-life raspy voice, scarred by cancer, made Iceman’s goodbye land heavy. “I was crying,” Cruise told Jimmy Kimmel last year. “He’s a powerful actor.”
The cancer fight changed him. Diagnosed in 2014, Kilmer—a Christian Scientist—leaned on prayer at first, avoiding doctors. By 2017, he opened up: two years of treatment wrecked his voice, and a feeding tube kept him alive. His 2021 documentary Val, co-made with his kids, showed it all—home videos, on-set chaos, and a man who wouldn’t quit. “I’ve tried to see the world as one piece of life,” he said, voice box humming.
Kilmer’s gone, leaving Mercedes and Jack, his art—those wild, abstract paintings—and a body of work that hit hard and stuck around. Pneumonia took him, but cancer’s shadow loomed long. Hollywood’s lost a tricky, brilliant spark. And fans aren’t ready to let go.