There will never be another Val Kilmer, who has left movie audiences wanting more, much too soon, at the age of 65. Sadly, the beloved actor passed away on April 1, 2025 as a result of pneumonia and complications stemming from health challenges around an earlier throat cancer diagnosis, but he does leave an immortal body of work behind that includes some of popular culture’s finest hits. If you are looking to pay homage and binge watch Kilmer’s career in film, here are 5 of the biggest and best to get you started.
Based on The Doors rock band and its iconic frontman of the 60s, Jim Morrison, Val Kilmer was credited with bringing authenticity and intensity to the troubled main character. In what is perhaps his career defining role, as far as his acting chops, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance.
Kilmer collaborated with an all-star cast in this western, working alongside Kurt Russel, Sam Elliot and Bill Paxton. Our man plays Doc Holliday, a gunfighter and close associate of Wyatt Earp, who participated in the gunfight at the O.K Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. Following his portrayal of a real-life character in The Doors, Kilmer was once again praised for the rawness that he brought to Holliday, and of course that highly memorable line, “I’m your huckleberry.”
Kilmer donned the cape in the third Batman movie to be produced by Tim Burton, replacing Michael Keaton as the Dark Knight, and while the film received mixed reviews, it was still the highest grossing movie of 1995. This would be Kilmer’s one and only starring appearance at Batman, however, with George Clooney later stepping into his boots.
Who can forget Kilmer’s portrayal of aviator Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, the main rival to Tom Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell? Top Gun has since gone on to become a national treasure, selected by the United States Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry. Kilmer’s cocky performance proved to be the perfect protagonist for Cruise’s cooler role as Maverick, leading to the type of on-screen chemistry that science is yet to bottle.
The Lion King deserves an honorable mention here, because Val Kilmer set the tone for the villainous Scar by lending his voice to the original 1994 movie — Another hit that grossed 763 million during its initial global release, but the long hoped for sequel to Top Gun was finally released in 2022, and it didn’t disappoint, doing huge numbers in cinemas. Mercifully, Val Kilmer was also back despite serious health issues, and his performance proved to provide an emotional touch as he supported his old nemesis, Maverick — showing us a warmer side of “The Iceman.”
Val Kilmer, you will be missed.
