Val Kilmer, the actor known for his roles in “Top Gun” and “Heat,” died from pneumonia Tuesday night in Los Angeles after an intense 11-year battle with throat cancer that left him using a voice box.
The 65-year-old was first diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 and recovered, before undergoing painful treatments that included a tracheostomy that permanently altered his speaking voice.
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His daughter confirmed his Tuesday death from pneumonia to the AP.
“While working with Val on ‘Heat,’ I always marveled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val’s possessing and expressing character,” director Michael Mann said in a Wednesday post on Instagram.
“After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news.”
Despite the brutal toll cancer took on Kilmer, the actor said he never felt bad about his health battles.
“I have behaved poorly. I have behaved bravely. I have behaved bizarrely to some. I deny none of this and have no regrets because I have lost and found parts of myself that I never knew existed,” Kilmer said in “Val,” the 2021 documentary on his career. “And I am blessed.”
Kilmer famously revived his “Iceman” role in “Top Gun: Maverick,” bringing the actor’s real-life struggles to screen and playing a cancer-inflicted commander who eventually passes away during the sequel.
“I have no regrets,” Kilmer told The Associated Press in 2021. “I’ve witnessed and experienced miracles.”
Senior Reporter
