Cher has said she will miss her “great friend” Val Kilmer following his death at the age of 65.
The pair were romantically linked during the 1980s and the US pop star told Howard Stern’s SiriusXM show last year that she had been “madly in love” with him.
Tributes from Hollywood stars have flooded in for the US actor, who was known for playing Iceman in Top Gun, Bruce Wayne in Batman Forever, and singer Jim Morrison in 1991 film The Doors.
Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes told the New York Times the actor had died from pneumonia.
Believe singer Cher, 78, called Kilmer “funny, crazy, pain in the ass” and a “great friend” in a post to X on Wednesday.
The actor rose to fame starring alongside Tom Cruise in the 1986 hit Top Gun playing Iceman, a rival pilot to Cruise’s character, Maverick.
Director Ron Howard said he “was incredibly fortunate to collaborate with Val a number of times over the years”, in a post to X, where he reflected on the actor’s “amazing” filmography and “awesome range”.
He said they had worked together on 1988 fantasy film Willow, biopic The Doors, and 2003 western thriller The Missing.
#RIPValKilmer I was incredibly fortunate to collaborate with Val a number of times over the years. As the off beat swordsman #Madmartagen in #Willow , his stunning #JimMorrison in Oliver Stone’s #TheDoors & in a chilling cameo in #TheMissing. I list these titles because even my… https://t.co/5GsyqfpJVH
— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) April 2, 2025
“His art extended to his poetry, artworks, filmmaking and simply the way he lived. Bon Voyage, Val and thank you,” Howard said.
Kilmer played Batman in 1995’s Batman Forever and starred in a number of westerns including 1989 film Billy The Kid and 1992’s Thunderheart.
He was also in Michael Mann’s 1995 crime drama Heat with Hollywood heavyweights Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.
Paying tribute to Kilmer on Instagram, Mann said: “While working with Val on ‘Heat’ I always marvelled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val’s possessing and expressing character.
“After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news.”
US actress Michelle Monaghan, who starred opposite Kilmer in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), remembered the actor as a “radical gent”.
In an Instagram post, she said: “A kind, curious, committed, rebellious, and radical gent.
“I learned from one of the greats. An artist through and through. I treasured my time with you. Godspeed buddy.”
The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola said Kilmer “was the most talented actor when in his high school and that talent only grew greater throughout his life”.
“He was a wonderful person to work with and a joy to know — I will always remember him,” he added, in an Instagram post.
Coppola directed Kilmer in 2011 horror film Twixt, which saw the actor play struggling writer Hall Baltimore.
Kilmer’s final acting role was a cameo in the 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
“I just want to say that was pretty emotional,” Cruise told Jimmy Kimmel in 2023 about the cameo.
“I’ve known Val for decades, and for him to come back and play that character … he’s such a powerful actor that he instantly became that character again.”
Kilmer had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, discussing his diagnosis and recovery in his 2020 memoir I’m Your Huckleberry and Amazon Prime documentary Val.
He underwent both radiotherapy and chemotherapy, as well as a tracheostomy, which damaged his vocal cords.
“I obviously am sounding much worse than I feel,” Kilmer said in the documentary.
“I can’t speak without plugging this hole (in my throat). You have to make the choice to breathe or to eat.
“It’s an obstacle that is very present with whoever sees me.”
Born on New Year’s Eve in 1959 in Los Angeles, Kilmer’s father Eugene was a property developer, while his mother Gladys stayed at home to raise her three sons.
Middle child Val attended Chatsworth High School at the same time as Kevin Spacey and Mare Winningham and, at the age of 17, was reported to be the youngest person to be given a place at New York’s prestigious Juilliard drama school.
He got his big break in 1984 comedy Top Secret!, in which he also sang, and he also starred in the comedy Real Genius the following year.
He married British actress Joanne Whalley in 1988, whom he met while working on Willow, which also saw him star alongside Warwick Davis.
The couple had two children before divorcing in 1996.
