Val Kilmer has been remembered as a true “eccentric”.
The actor, best known for his roles in ‘Top Gun’, ‘The Doors’, and ‘Batman Forever’, died aged 65 on 1 April in Los Angeles from pneumonia after a long battle with throat cancer that left him needing a voice box and feeding tube.
People magazine has now published a cover story on his life, recalling his past interviews and including tributes from his closest friends and colleagues.
Val’s long-time collaborator David Zucker was featured in the special edition of the publication and recalled the actor’s audition for ‘Top Secret!’
He said: “He did an Elvis impersonation that was incredible.”
David, who last saw Val about a year ago, added: “I don’t see that he ever changed. He was always eccentric.”
Writer Kevin Jarre remembered a moment on the set of ‘Tombstone’ as part of the tribute –remembering how Val silently grabbed a locust from a crew member and ate it.
The People edition also highlighted how in his memoir Val opened up about his upbringing, calling his mother Gladys “as enigmatic to me as Ingrid Bergman”.
He also used the book to speak of his regret at his single-minded dedication to love over career.
Val wrote: “I wish I’d been as dedicated to my career as I was to women.”
Though he never received an Oscar nomination, Val added in the tome: “I would like to have more Oscars than anybody. Meryl Streep must feel pretty good, you know?… it’s about being loved.”
People also printed old interviews with Val, including one in 2021 when he admitted: “Sometimes I feel so low and I have the blues really, really hard.”
Born in Los Angeles, Val was the middle of three son – and his life was shaped by tragedy, with his younger brother Wesley, whom he called “the genius”, drowning in a jacuzzi aged 16.
Val, who was raised Christian Scientist, never fully recovered from the loss, adding in his 2020 memoir ‘I’m Your Huckleberry’: “I want my brother alive. Physically not just spiritually.”
Val was the youngest person accepted into the Juilliard school’s drama division, and after early successes in ‘Top Secret!’ and ‘Real Genius’, he shot to fame as Iceman in ‘Top Gun’ in 1986.
