Top Gun, Heat, Alexander, Willow, Déjà Vu… The iconic actor Val Kilmer died at the age of 65 on April 1 in Los Angeles of pneumonia, aggravated by throat cancer that he had been battling for years. A look back at a career marked by success.
His films have grossed billions of dollars at the box office. Born in 1959 in Los Angeles, Val Kilmer entered the theater department of the Juilliard School of Dramatic Arts at the age of 21. But while he began his career on the stage, it was in the cinema that the artist really made his mark.
A highly successful debut
In 1984, when he was barely 25 years old, he landed the lead role in Top Secret. In this parody of spy films directed by the trio David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker, the actor plays an American rockabilly singer, Nick Rivers, visiting the German Democratic Republic (GDR), where he sings his character’s songs, which even encourages him to release an album.
But it was in 1986 that Val Kilmer enjoyed real success. And it was a big risk, as he had turned down the role in David Lynch’s Blue Velvet to work in Top Gun with director Tony Scott and the film’s star, Tom Cruise. The story is about Pete Maverick (Tom Cruise), a young flying prodigy who joins the prestigious American naval aviation school Top Gun to improve his skills in the middle of the Cold War. The film was a resounding success, grossing over 353 million dollars worldwide. Val Kilmer was revealed to the world of cinema and to an international audience. Like his rival Tom Cruise, his character Iceman contributed to the surge in sales of Ray Ban Aviator sunglasses: +40% in seven months!
Two years later, the actor strengthened his position in the 7th art with Willow. In this fantasy adventure production by Disney, directed by Ron Howard, he plays the role of Madmartigan, a warrior who becomes the sidekick of an amateur magician with the aim of protecting a baby, the future princess of a tyrannical queen.
A few years later, Kilmer made a name for himself in the world of music and landed the role of Jim Morrison in the movie The Doors (1991) by Oliver Stone. His acting and musical performance impressed the industry. The band’s musicians even admitted to having had difficulty distinguishing the voice of their late friend from that of the actor.
1995: the big year
In 1995, Val Kilmer appeared in two major films: Batman Forever (by Joel Schumacher), in which he played the hero in the black cape, and Heat (by Michael Mann). In Heat, Val Kilmer played Chris Shiherlis, the accomplice of a robber (Robert de Niro) who confronts a police lieutenant (Al Pacino).
The Saint (1997), The Prince of Egypt (1998) and Joe The King (1999) punctuate the actor’s film decade in a more timid fashion. During this period, he also forged a reputation as a rather difficult actor, particularly following the filming of The Island of Doctor Moreau (1996) and his complicated relationship with director John Frankenheimer.
In 2017, he revisited this image, stating: “I didn’t shake enough hands or flatter and reassure the financiers enough. I was only concerned with the acting and that wasn’t enough to show that I cared about the movie or all that money. I like to take risks and it often gave the impression that I was willing to risk their money with no return, which was stupid of me”.
The 2000s
The 2000s were a less prosperous decade for the actor. His films – Red Planet, The Missing, George and the Dragon – were less successful. But Val Kilmer still starred in notable works, such as Alexander (2004) directed by Oliver Stone.
He then starred in several films that were less acclaimed by critics, such as Streets of Blood, Hardwired, Gun, The Enigma, Planes and Song to Song. In 2022, Val Kilmer made a final film appearance in a movie that brought his career full circle: Top Gun Maverick, in which he played Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky.
In 2017, the actor confirmed that he was suffering from throat cancer. Four years later, the documentary Val by Leo Scott and Ting Poo looked back on his career. The feature film was even shown at the Cannes Film Festival out of competition. Val Kilmer died on April 1 in his hometown of Los Angeles of pneumonia. In recent years, the legendary actor of the 80s and 90s had been weakened by his cancer.
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Featured photo: © Paramount/Kobal
