Tragedy strikes as one of Hollywood's greatest actors of all time passes away. Recently, New York Times reports that Val Kilmer has passed away at 65 years old. He died of pneumonia in his Los Angeles home according to his daughter Mercedes. Since 2015, he had also been battling throat cancer, which eventually required him to wear a breathing tube.
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It's hard to truly distill what Val's signature roles are, with so many showstoppers on his resume. The first that comes to mind is in Michael Mann's Heat (1995) as Chris Shiherlis. He delivers his lines with the stone-faced demeanor of a grizzled professional taking bank scores and unafraid to kill. However, what really unlocks his performance is how Kilmer navigates the emotional.
All of his tough exterior melts when thinking about his wife Charlene. The line "For me, the sun rises and sets with her, man" echoes throughout the film. All of his heists are a means to an end, to be back with the woman he loves most and their child.
Val Kilmer Dies of Pneumonia at 65 Years Old
Additionally, you can look at the wise-cracking of a dying man with Doc Holliday in Tombstone. Val really steals the show from Kurt Russell's lead, where death feels omnipresent in every exchange but he still leads courageously and with sharp wit. His role as Iceman in Top Gun showcases a real intensity from Kilmer that really keeps the film from being overly cheesy. Moreover, his last time on screen reprises the character in Top Gun: Maverick. The prospect of mortality really sinks in with Ice and Maverick and Val does so much with facial reactions and typing his words out.
This news of Kilmer's passing has devastated so many fans online.
One person really highlights how steep his filmography runs and how his movies paint so many of our memories. "Have always had such a soft spot for Val Kilmer. My dad *loved* Tombstone. I bet I've seen it 15 times," they tweet. "Heat and True Romance are two of my favorite movies ever. And I really loved Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Incredibly cool career."
