Val Kilmer was included in the group of the largest cinema stars of the 1980s and 1990s. During the almost four decade of his career, he created a number of unforgettable creations on the screen – in 1986 he stole the hearts of viewers with the role of Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, a rebellious pilot from the film “Top gun”and five years later he delighted fans of The Doors, successfully playing the legendary Jim Morrison. In 1995 he portrayed the famous comic superhero in the film “Batman Forever”, which sealed his star status.
In the following years, Kilmer’s career completely braked due to serious health problems – the star struggled with throat cancer. In 2014, he underwent tracheotomy, as a result of which he almost completely lost his voice.
Kilmer publicly admitted to fight the disease only in 2017. However, he avoided comments on this subject for a long time and did not reveal any details. For the first time he described his fight against cancer in a book entitled “I’m Your Huckleberry”. In his diaries, he returned to the moment when his health began to deteriorate.
The actor also told about his fight against the disease in the documentary “Val” dedicated to his life and career, which had his world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
“Now, when it is more difficult to speak, I want to tell my story more than ever,” said Kilmer in the movie. And he added that although his life after cancer would never return to the old tracks, it is not as bad as it seems to bystanders. “Of course, I sound much worse than I really feel,” said the actor in the document. Kilmer revealed that the biggest problem for him is that because of the hole after the tracheotomy he cannot eat and breathe at the same time. “I can’t speak without clogging this hole in my throat. I also have to decide whether I will breathe or eat,” said the star.
The actor, however, did not treat the changes that had undergone in his body as curses. “I behaved strangely for some. I don’t deny anything and I don’t regret anything because I lost and found such parts of my personality that I never knew about” – he confessed in the film.
Kilmer created the last acting creation in the production of “Top Gun: Maverick” (2022), i.e. the sequel of his great hit of the 80s. On April 1, the world circulated that an outstanding actor died of pneumonia.
Now the editors of the TMZ portal reached the act of the star’s death, thanks to which we learned more aspects of the tragedy. In the Department of Health Department of Los Angeles you can read that the list of actor’s health problems was really long.
Kilmer struggled with acute and chronic respiratory failure. He also had a flat -cell tumor. Malnutrition and trachein-steep fistulas also contributed to his death.
TMZ also revealed that for the last few months of his life the star was chained to bed. The portal also confirmed that the actor was cremated on April 7.