Val Kilmer

Val Edward Kilmer (born December 31, 1959) is an American actor.

Kilmer was born December 31, 1959, in Los Angeles, California, the second of three sons to Gladys Swanette (Ekstadt; 1928–2019) and Eugene Dorris Kilmer (1921–1993).

His mother was of Swedish descent.

His other ancestry includes Irish, German and Cherokee roots.

His parents divorced in 1968 when he was 8 years old.

His mother later married William Bernard Leach in 1970.

Kilmer's grandfather was a gold miner in New Mexico, near the border with Arizona.

In 1977, Kilmer's younger brother Wesley, who had epilepsy, drowned in a jacuzzi at age 15.

He attended Chatsworth High School with Kevin Spacey.

His high school girlfriend was Mare Winningham.

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.

Kilmer turned down a role in Francis Ford Coppola's 1983 film The Outsiders, as he had prior theater commitments.

In 1983, he appeared off Broadway in The Slab Boys with Kevin Bacon, Sean Penn, and Jackie Earle Haley.

That same year, his first off-stage acting role (excluding television commercials) came in the form of an episode of ABC Afterschool Special called One Too Many, which was an educational drama on drinking and driving; it also starred a young Michelle Pfeiffer.

Also in 1983, Kilmer self-published a collection of his own poetry entitled My Edens After Burns, that included poems inspired by his time with Pfeiffer.

The book of poems is difficult to obtain and expensive; known second-hand copies cost $300 and up.

His big break came when he received top billing in the comedy spoof of spy movies Top Secret!, in which he played an American rock and roll star.

Kilmer sang all the songs in the film and released an album under the film character's name, "Nick Rivers".

While garnering more substantial roles and prestige, he also gained a reputation for his charisma and promiscuity, dating numerous women.

Originally a stage actor, he found fame after appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! (1984) and Real Genius (1985), as well as the military action film Top Gun (1986) and the fantasy film Willow (1988).

During a brief hiatus, he 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 "Iceman" 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 played 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 in TNT's Billy the Kid.

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.

He was one of the best-paid actors of the 1990s; films featuring him have grossed over $3.5 billion at the worldwide box-office.

According to critic Roger Ebert, "if there is an award for the most unsung leading man of his generation, Kilmer should get it".

Kilmer gained acclaim for his portrayal of Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's The Doors (1991).

He was cast as a main character in critically acclaimed films such as the western Tombstone (1993), and the crime dramas True Romance (1993) and Heat (1995).

He portrayed Batman in Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever (1995), and continued to star in films such as The Ghost and the Darkness (1996), The Saint (1997), The Prince of Egypt (1998), Alexander (2004), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), and The Snowman (2017).

In 2022, Kilmer reprised his role as Iceman in Top Gun: Maverick (2022).

Since 2015, Kilmer has privately struggled with throat cancer; he had a procedure on his trachea that damaged his vocal cords to the point where he had extreme difficulty speaking.

He also underwent chemotherapy and two tracheotomies.

In 2020, he published his memoir, titled I'm Your Huckleberry: A Memoir.

His struggle was captured in the 2021 documentary titled Val which documented his career and health issues.

The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to critical acclaim.