Val Kilmer’s children have followed in his footsteps by taking up careers as actors.
The screen icon, who passed away on Tuesday ages 65, was known for his role as Iceman in the 1986 hit movie Top Gun and as Batman/Bruce Wayne in the 1995 Batman Forever.
It was his beloved daughter Mercedes Kilmer, whom he shared with ex-wife Joanne Whalley, who revealed he passed from pneumonia in Los Angeles.
Aside from Mercedes, 33, he is also survived by son Jack Kilmer, 29. Kilmer was married to their mother, fellow actress Joanne, from 1988 until 1996.
Mercedes and Jack both went on to forge acting careers of their own, and often attend glamorous events together.
Mercedes made her feature film debut in 2020’s Paydirt, while Jack appeared in films such as Palo Alto, alongside Emma Roberts and James Franco, and Summer 03.
Val Kilmer ‘s children have followed in his footsteps by taking up careers as actors
It was his beloved daughter Mercedes Kilmer, whom he shared with ex-wife Joanne Whalley, who revealed he passed from pneumonia in Los Angeles
In Paydirt, she played the on-screen daughter of her real-life father.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Val explained: ‘The producer called me up and asked me if I would play this role and I said, ‘I don’t know if you’ve found anybody yet to play my daughter, but I might have someone for you. Her name is Mercedes Kilmer and perhaps you’d be interested in meeting with her’. Mercedes and the producer met, and they all had a ball.’
Mercedes also served as an associate producer on Val, the 2021 documentary about her father, available on Prime Video.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight in 2021, Mercedes said the ‘entire movie’ made her emotional.
‘I wouldn’t say things surprised me about my dad. He’s such an open person that I know very well,’ she told the outlet. ‘But it did really surprise me to see it with an audience. I’m so used to people not understanding my dad. I’m so used to his public image being different than the playful, funny person that we know.’
Jack also served as an associate producer on the documentary and provided the voice-over narration, but his lines were written by Val himself.
Jack told the Los Angeles Times: ‘It was interesting doing the narration because our goal was to get me to sound as natural as possible.’
Val rocketed to stardom as Tom Cruise’s co-star in the smash 1986 hit Top Gun (1986), playing naval aviator Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, and decades later appeared alongside Cruise again in the 2022 sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
Aside from Mercedes, 33, he is also survived by son Jack Kilmer, 29. Kilmer was married to their mother, fellow actress Joanne, from 1988 until 1996
Mercedes and Jack both went on to forge acting careers of their own, and often attend glamorous events together
Mercedes made her feature film debut in 2020’s Paydirt, while Jack appeared in films such as Palo Alto – starring alongside her father
Kilmer was married to their mother, fellow actress Joanne from 1988 until 1996; the couple seen in 1990
Kilmer was thrilled for the opportunity to reprise his role as Iceman in Top Gun: Maverick.
The actor was famous for playing the calm, cool rival to Tom Cruise’s Maverick in the original 1986 film.
Val’s son, Jack recalled how ‘stoked’ his father was to be joining the cast.
‘[My sister,] Mercedes, and I went down to San Diego to that big naval base for the shoot with Tom Cruise and everyone. And there were hundreds of extras of real pilots coming up to us and telling us that the first Top Gun inspired them to join the Navy and the Air Force.’
‘It was one of the proudest moments of being American that you could think of really.’
The screen icon was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 and underwent surgery, including a tracheotomy which significantly impacted his ability to speak. He was later declared cancer free.
Kilmer was known for his role as Iceman in the 1986 hit movie Top Gun and as Batman/Bruce Wayne in the 1995 Batman Forever. Despite his permanently damaged voice, he made a brief return to the screen in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick , reprising his role as Iceman opposite Tom Cruise . It was his final big screen appearance.
The Los Angeles native also famously played musician Jim Morrison in the 1991 film The Doors.
Hollywood star Val Kilmer – famed for iconic roles in Top Gun, Batman and The Doors – has died at 65 after a long health battle; seen in July 2019 in New York City
The actor died from pneumonia in Los Angeles on Tuesday; pictured in a 1986 still from Top Gun
His death was confirmed by the New York Times on Tuesday.
Kilmer underwent both radiotherapy and chemotherapy for his cancer as well as a tracheostomy a procedure to create an artificial hole in this neck to help him breathe.
The latter permanently damaged his vocal cords and consequentially forever altered his speaking voice.
Kilmer reported in 2020 that he had been cancer-free for four years.
In the Amazon Prime documentary entitled Val, Kilmer spoke candidly about living with the consequences of throat cancer including having to use an electric device called a voice box on the artificial hole in his throat to talk.
‘I obviously am sounding much worse than I feel. I can’t speak without plugging this hole [in his throat],’ he said.
A voice box device is most commonly a battery-operated machine that produces sound to create a voice, and is used to help those suffering with throat cancer communicate.
The actor, who also had to have meals through a feeding tube, explained some of the other challenges.
‘You have to make the choice to breathe or to eat. It’s an obstacle that is very present with whoever sees me,’ he said.
He also played Batman/Bruce Wayne in the 1995 Batman Forever (pictured in a still)
In 1991, he famously played musician Jim Morrison in The Doors; pictured in a still from the movie
Kilmer has previously detailed how he was unaware he had throat cancer until one day he coughed up ‘coagulated blood’ and called for an ambulance before passing out.
He then woke up in a Santa Monica hospital after an emergency tracheotomy for throat cancer.
Speaking to the New York Times about denying he had throat cancer, he explained: ‘They said I was denying that I had cancer, and when they asked me, I didn’t have cancer. It was a bit like do you have a broken bone? And if you broke it in high school, you would say no.’
He added that radiation and chemotherapy ’caused his suffering’, not the cancer itself. Val added that he believes it was ‘prayers’ that cured him.
In 2020, Kilmer said he ‘healed very quickly’ following his throat cancer diagnosis, in an interview with Good Morning America.
‘This is a tracheotomy,’ he said while holding his hand to his throat, ‘to help me breathe because the glands in my throat swelled up as well’.
When asked what he misses the most about his voice, Kilmer told GMA: ‘That I had one! And that I didn’t laugh like a pirate.’
