03-04-2025
Val Kilmer Died Hours Before Walking the Red Carpet at Beverly Hills Film Festival
Among the legendary actors slated to walk the red carpet on opening night of the Beverly Hills Film Festival Tuesday was Val Kilmer, who had planned to attend the West Coast Premiere of American Badass: A Michael Madsen Retrospective, a biopic about his longtime friend. But before the limo could pick him up, the actor who played Batman, Jim Morrison, and a slew of other sexy bad boy characters on the big screen, was dead at age 65 from pneumonia. The iconic actor had been dealing with the lingering health issues that followed a throat cancer diagnosis over a decade ago, his daughter confirmed in a statement. 'It was a shock to find this out," said Nino Simone, Founder & President of the Beverly Hills Film Festival in a statement Wednesday. 'He was thrilled to come out in support of his friend [Madsen]. know PR was on the phone, trying to get a hold of the driver, bringing Val for his 7:30pm red carpet arrival. The story and news of his death were reported, literally at the same, exact time. Unbelievable, and so heart-breaking. Our hearts go out to his family.' Kilmer was born in Los Angeles, and died in the city he loved surrounded by loved ones, his daughter Mercedes told the Associated Press. Aside from Mercedes, 33, he is also survived by son Jack Kilmer, 29. Val was married to their mother, fellow actress Joanne Whalley, from 1988 until outpouring of grief was shared by the people who worked with and loved Kilmer, among them his one-time girlfriend Cher, who mused on social media about his brilliance and bravery.
After his 2015 cancer diagnosis, Kilmer largely vanished from the Hollywood industry and leaned into painting. In the weeks before he died he posted a photo of his work depicting a peaceful campfire writing: "It's got that late-night glow. Cool tones with a low burn, like when the camp fire cools down but you're still wide awake."On his website, he talked about stepping back from acting because of the damage done to his voice by radiation and chemotherapy. "I've lived a magical life. For more than half a century, I have been honing my art, no matter the medium. Be it literature, movies, poetry, painting, music, or tracking exotic and beautiful wildlife in the most remote African bush, to capture ephemeral moments with a camera, I yearn to express my creative spirit," he wrote, adding: "It isn't easy to talk and be understood. I am improving all the time, but am not able to be out in the world the same way I had become accustomed. When one thing is taken, though, another is given."Right before the pandemic, Kilmer found HelMel, a community space in Hollywood, and rented what he called "a large studio. There, he wrote, "With little voice, my creative juices were boiling over and pouring out of me. I started creating again, painting, writing anything I could. I felt the art healing me."Kilmer was also a poet, and received a Grammy nomination in 2012 for Best Spoken Word, and wrote an autobiography about his prolific life in Hollywood called "I'm Your Huckleberry," which was a famous line he uttered in Tombstone.
