Val Kilmer dies at 65: cause of death revealed as tributes pour in for Doc, Iceman, Batman...

Val Kilmer, one of the biggest - and most complicated - stars of 1990s Hollywood, has died at 65.

For many fans, Kilmer will always be remembered as Iceman in Top Gun, Jim Morrison in The Doors, Doc Holliday in Tombstone, and, of course, the Batman who followed Keaton. But the full picture of Kilmer’s life and career was far messier, less scripted, and more fascinating than the roles that made him famous.

What happened to Val Kilmer?

According to the New York Times, citing his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, confirmed the cause as pneumonia. It’s a quiet, even ordinary end for a man whose life was anything but. Though he famously battled throat cancer in the 2010s, undergoing a tracheotomy that left him unable to speak clearly, his death was unrelated.

His illness had already transformed how audiences saw him in his later years. His appearance in Top Gun: Maverick(2022) was brief but powerful. In it, Kilmer’s character Iceman, also struggling with illness, communicates mostly through text on screen – a heartbreaking echo of Kilmer’s real-life challenges.

Tributes began to roll in on social media:

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