'There Wasn't Anyone Quite Like Val Kilmer': Hollywood Pays Tribute To Late On-Screen Icon

Friends, fans and former collaborators are paying tribute to “Top Gun” star Val Kilmer, who died Tuesday from pneumonia, his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, told The New York Times. The acting icon, who was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 but later recovered, was 65.

Kilmer broke into Hollywood with 1980s comedies like “Top Secret!” and “Real Genius,” but quickly became a leading man to contend with — going toe-to-toe with Tom Cruise in 1986’s “Top Gun,” as well as Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in Michael Mann’s “Heat” (1995).

“I always marvelled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val’s possessing and expressing character,” Mann told The Hollywood Reporter. “After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news.”

Kilmer’s courage in the face of cancer was chronicled in the 2021 documentary “Val.” The following year, he reprised his role as Lt. Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in “Top Gun: Maverick,” allowing for a sweet on-screen reunion with Cruise — in what became Kilmer’s final film.

Kilmer, seen here in 2011, starred in films that combined grossed $3.8 billion worldwide.

Jason Merritt via Getty Images

His friend and fellow actor Josh Brolin shared a heartfelt tribute Tuesday on Instagram.

“Se ya, pal,” wrote Brolin. “I’m going to miss you. You were a smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker. There’s not a lot left of those. I hope to see you up there in the heavens when I eventually get there. Until then, amazing memories, lovely thoughts.”

Kilmer was one of the most versatile movie stars of his time: He donned cape and cowl in 1995’s “Batman Forever,” verbally out-sparred Robert Downey Jr. in “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” (2005) and inhabited the late Jim Morrison with spooky precision in 1991’s “The Doors.”

“Val Kilmer was the most talented actor when in his High School, and that talent only grew greater throughout his life,” legendary director Francis Ford Coppola wrote on Instagram. “He was a wonderful person to work with and a joy to know — I will always remember him.”

Kilmer left behind an indelible legacy; a committed character actor in a leading man’s body, his films grossed $3.8 billion worldwide. The resulting tributes have aptly similar range, and come from fans across generations and mourning friends who knew Kilmer personally.