Val Kilmer, who performed Bruce Wayne in “Batman Endlessly,” channeled Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone‘s “The Doorways” and starred as a tubercular Doc Holliday in “Tombstone,” died Tuesday in Los Angeles. His daughter Mercedes instructed The New York Occasions the trigger was pneumonia. He was 65. He had been battling throat most cancers for a number of years.

Kilmer’s reps didn’t instantly reply to Selection‘s request for remark. 

The infant-faced blonde actor had a stable run as a number one man with a risky popularity within the ’80s and ’90s, starring in “High Gun,” “Actual Genius,” “Willow,” “Warmth,” and “The Saint.” He returned briefly to screens in 2022’s “High Gun: Maverick” though he may now not communicate attributable to his most cancers.

In 2021, a documentary on his life, “Val,” was launched. His son offered the actor’s voice and the movie utilized lots of of hours of video he had recorded over time, giving a revealing take a look at the units he labored on and exhibiting the actor to be an introspective thinker with an artist’s soul.

Kilmer took over from Michael Keaton for Joel Schumacher’s 1995 “Batman Endlessly,” receiving combined opinions for his tackle the Darkish Knight.  He was changed by George Clooney for 1997’s “Batman & Robin,” a infamous flop that just about killed the franchise. The New York Occasions stated of “Batman Endlessly,” “The prime costume is now worn by Val Kilmer, who makes a very good Batman however not a greater one than Michael Keaton.”

After reportedly turning down a job in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Outsiders,” Kilmer broke out with a starring position in 1984 spy spoof “High Secret!,” wherein he performed a rock star and sang his personal songs. Following his flip as a brainy faculty pupil within the 1985 sci-fi comedy, “Actual Genius,” he turned a significant star, showing reverse Tom Cruise within the worldwide hit “High Gun.” Kilmer met his future spouse, actress Joanne Whalley, on the set of Ron Howard’s fantasy movie “Willow,” after which appeared along with her in “Kill Me Once more” in 1989.

One in every of his most memorable roles was enjoying the charismatic and doomed Morrison in Oliver Stone’s 1991 “The Doorways.” Kilmer memorized the lyrics to all of Morrison’s songs earlier than his audition, and he immersed himself within the position, sporting garments just like the singer’s for near a 12 months. Roger Ebert wrote of his flip as Jim Morrison, “The efficiency is the most effective factor within the film — and since practically each scene facilities on Morrison, that isn’t small reward.”

After “Batman Endlessly,” New Line persuaded him to come back on board the troubled manufacturing of “The Island of Dr. Moreau,” the place Kilmer tangled with each the movie’s star, Marlon Brando, and director John Frankenheimer. Frustrations on the manufacturing mounted when Brando refused to come back to the set, and the documentary “Val” revealed a tense set the place crew members grimly joked about Brando’s stand-in, named Norm.

Frankenheimer, the second director to work on finishing the movie, reportedly stated, “There are two issues I’ll by no means ever do in my entire life. The primary is that I’ll by no means climb Mt. Everest. The second is that I’ll by no means work with Val Kilmer ever once more.”

Within the Nineteen Nineties, Kilmer starred in Michael Apted’s Western “Thunderheart” and “The Actual McCoy” and had a small however memorable position as an Elvis-like mentor in Tony Scott’s “True Romance.” His position as a sardonic Doc Holliday in “Tombstone” (1993) was considered one of his most beloved performances, and in 1995, he appeared in “Warmth” alongside Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.

He went on to star in “The Ghost and the Darkness” and the forgettable remake “The Saint,” which he shot as an alternative of returning as Batman in “Batman & Robin.” Kilmer implied he didn’t return as Batman due to scheduling points, although Schumacher’s description of him as “psychotic” may have additionally been an element.

After the mid-Nineteen Nineties, the studio roles dwindled amidst his popularity as tough and combative, and he appeared principally in impartial movies and supporting roles corresponding to Stone’s poorly-reviewed “Alexander.”

Born in Los Angeles, Kilmer was raised in Chatsworth and attended Hollywood Skilled College and the Juilliard College. He appeared off Broadway in “The Slab Boys,” co-starring with Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon, earlier than his first TV position within the afterschool particular “One Too Many,” which additionally starred Michelle Pfeiffer.

He did voices for animated movies together with “The Prince of Egypt.” His different movies included “At First Sight,” “Purple Planet,” “Pollock,” “The Salton Sea,” “Wonderland” and “The Lacking.” Kilmer continued working in movies together with “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” with Robert Downey, Jr., “Déjà Vu” with Denzel Washington, “Dangerous Lieutenant: Port of Name New Orleans” and “The Snowman.”

A lifelong Christian Scientist, Kilmer was unwilling to verify his most cancers prognosis when it was revealed by Michael Douglas in 2016. He mixed his fascination with Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy together with his love of Mark Twain in a screenplay that featured the 2 figures. He toured the nation together with his one-man present “Citizen Twain” for a number of years, which integrated movie and reside readings of the humorist’s work.

In 2012, Kilmer acquired a Grammy nomination for Greatest Spoken Phrase for an audio manufacturing of “Zorro.” His memoir, “I’m Your Huckleberry,” named for a line in “Tombstone,” was revealed in 2020.

Kilmer lived for a few years on a ranch in New Mexico, the place he continued to personal land after promoting off a lot of the ranch. He additionally painted and helped oversee theater applications for high-schoolers to carry out Twain and Shakespeare.

He was divorced from Whalley in 1996 and is survived by a daughter, Mercedes and a son, Jack.