In the mid-1980s, after years of struggling to get parts in plays and films, Val Edward Kilmer found fame with his breakout role in the action movie Top Gun. Kilmer continued to work steadily through the 1990s and 2000s, but by 2010, he had only appeared in three films, including the 2011 romantic comedy How to Make Love Like an Englishman, which co-starred Salma Hayek. What happened to this once popular actor? Why was he so out of the public eye? To learn more about Val Edward Kilmer’s fascinating life story and career, keep reading! Top Gun Star Val Edward Kilmer s Fascinating Life Story
Table of Contents
Wiki Biography and more
Val Edward Kilmer was born on December 31, 1959, in Los Angeles, California. He is an actor who first found fame as a stage actor and after his film debut in Top Secret (1984) with his real life best friend at Chatsworth High School, Rob Lowe. Although he started off doing guest spots on many shows like MacGyver, he quickly moved into movies like Real Genius. During his career to date he has appeared in a number of films including playing Batman villain The Scarecrow in Batman Forever opposite Michelle Pfeiffer and Jim Carrey. Top Gun Star Val Edward Kilmer s Fascinating Life Story
Bio
Val Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, he found fame after appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! and Real Genius, as well as the military action film Top Gun and the fantasy film Willow. He went on to star in many films including The Saint, Heat, Red Planet, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Alexander and Paycheck. He has also voiced characters in several animated films including Oliver & Company (in which he played its protagonist), Hercules (in which he was heard as both Hercules and Musca), Home on the Range (in which he played Jessie) andBrother Bear 2 . In 2000 he won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actor – Action for his role in The Saint.
Family
The 70s hit film Real Genius which starred Val Eddings (as Chris Knight) introduced us to a talented young actor that had just enough quirk and eccentricity to capture our attention. It also brought much needed publicity and help to Chris Knight’s real life brother, Kevin Mitnick who had been in prison for two years after being convicted of breaking into ARPANET and other computer networks at UCLA and MIT, costing companies including Sun Microsystems $300 million. A high-school dropout, Kevin became famous as one of America’s most notorious hackers.
Relationship
Val’s first relationship was with actress Bo Derek, who appeared alongside him in his breakthrough film, 1985’s Real Genius. The two were engaged for a short time before calling it quits in 1986. In 1987, he married actress Joanne Whalley but divorced her three years later. Next up was an on-again-off-again relationship with longtime friend and sometime collaborator Michelle Phillips from 1990 to 1995. The last significant relationship of his life came when he began dating Suzanne Dingland in 2004 but split from her in 2007 after she gave birth to their daughter, Mercedes Minnie Moon. He has been dating Tiger Lily Hutchence since March 2010.
Physical info
Height 6′ 0 (1.83 m) Hair Color Black Eye Color Brown Best Known For Top Gun, Real Genius, Willow Trivia He has two older sisters and one older brother. His father was a real estate developer and his mother taught drama. He attended Brentwood School in Los Angeles with Kevin Kline and Mare Winningham, who he says are still two of his closest friends. He also attended Juilliard School but didn’t graduate because he didn’t feel like [he] was learning anything. At 15, he became a member of People for Conservation/Defenders of Wildlife.
Career
Born in Los Angeles on December 31, 1959, he was raised as a Christian Scientist and began acting as a teenager. His early roles were on TV series such as CHiPs (1977), T.J. Hooker (1982) and The New Adventures of Wonder Woman (1979). He made his film debut in Real Genius (1985) and followed with Top Secret! (1984), The Sure Thing (1985), and Willow (1988). He starred in 1989’s Batman before moving to more dramatic fare such as Heat, The Doors, Tombstone, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Some of his most notable work includes The Island of Dr.
Awards
The following is a list of awards and nominations received by American actor Val Kilmer. His roles have included appearances in several high-profile films such as Top Secret! (1984), Real Genius (1985), The Doors (1991), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Tombstone (1993) and Batman Forever (1995). He won a Drama Desk Award for his stage performance in Merlin, and a Satellite Award for his work in Tombstone. Among other roles, he appeared as Jim Morrison in The Doors, Doc Holliday in Tombstone, Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman Forever and its sequel Batman & Robin. In 2001 Kilmer received some positive attention for his role as controversial filmmaker Ed Wood.
Net worth
$50 Million: Val Kilmer is an American actor known for his role as Jim Morrison in The Doors, as Doc Holliday in Tombstone, and for his roles in comedy films such as Real Genius, Top Secret!, Tom and Huck and Hot Shots! He has a net worth of $50 million. Born on December 31, 1959 (age 50), Val Edward Kilmer was born in Los Angeles California to parents who were both actors. He was raised by his father who adopted him at birth because he already had children with a previous marriage. Like any other Hollywood star kids, he began acting at early age on television sitcoms like F Troop and The Courtship of Eddie’s Father.
Breakthrough as an Actor
While still attending high school, he moved to Los Angeles and quickly found success in television commercials. After a few small roles in a couple of movies, his first real breakthrough came when he landed his role as Iceman in Top Secret! It was around that time that he changed his name from Val Edward Kilmer to simply Val Kilmer; by now, audiences had started to notice him and a generic name would be less likely to be confused with someone else. After achieving fame from Top Secret!, he continued making comedy films throughout the 1980s. Despite being ridiculed for doing so, for many years he rejected mainstream Hollywood blockbusters such as Batman Forever (1995) and The Saint (1997), instead choosing parts such as Jim Morrison in The Doors (1991).
Transitioning to Film Roles
After making his debut in 1981 with an off-Broadway play, he transitioned to film roles, beginning with Top Secret! (1984) and Real Genius (1985). Over the next three years, he appeared in almost two dozen films, including The Salton Sea (2002), Batman Forever (1995), The Saint (1997), and Willow. His performance as Jim Morrison in The Doors earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor. In 1995, Kilmer had a supporting role as Lt. Kaffee in Oliver Stone’s biopic of Howard Hughes The Aviator starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Hughes.
Breakthrough Role in Top Gun
While filming Top Gun, Val Kilmer struggled with drug and alcohol abuse. Then a plane crash almost killed him. Years of bad publicity and personal problems followed. Just when it seemed like he was done, his career had a resurgence in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang as an alcoholic private detective who crosses paths with Robert Downey Jr.’s rogue actor. He also played Mark Twain in edgy Western comedy Dan In Real Life with Steve Carell and earned critical praise for his role as George Reeves in Hollywoodland, a biopic about Superman star George Reeves who committed suicide while struggling to rise above typecasting. This fall, you can see him on Broadway opposite Denzel Washington in The Iceman Cometh.
The Present Day
In recent years, you may have seen him on your television screen or at your local movie theater. He has been in multiple movies and plays, even writing a few books along with it. But, who is Val Edward Kilmer? Where did he grow up? What was his childhood like? Keep reading to find out everything about one of Hollywood’s most fascinating actors.
Early Life: The son of a Christian Scientist who belonged to the Church of Christ
Scientist, Kilmer was raised in Los Angeles. He had no interest in acting while growing up, and never acted in his high school (University High School, Los Angeles). When a friend of his became a casting director for Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders (1983), he convinced Kilmer to audition for a small role. The director chose him over hundreds of other applicants and Kilmer got his first taste of Hollywood stardom. Of course, his character died at the end of that movie. But things were looking up…
Tom Cruise Started Out As A Cute Little Boy
Even Tom Cruise had to start somewhere. The name will be familiar because of his acting career, which has been going strong for decades now. But as a child, his future was uncertain; he wasn’t exactly destined for stardom from birth. He had plenty of hardship and uncertainty in his early life, with living situations that changed constantly—he even spent time living in a van near an airport in Los Angeles. And yet he persevered and became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. That teaches us something about hard work and persistence; there’s hope for all of us even if we don’t have a famous last name or lucrative career opportunities available right out of high school. We can make our own way if we set our minds to it!
Drama School Was Where He Learned To Become An Amazing Actor
Before he was known for playing Iceman in Top Gun, Val Edward Kilmer went to a high school called De La Salle High School. He attended drama classes, where he made friends and learned how to act. He began making short films while at school. These eventually led him to Hollywood and fame as an actor. If you’re thinking of following your dreams, it may be worth considering getting a drama school education like he did.
Always On The Lookout For New Challenges
Born on December 31, 1959 in Los Angeles, California, Val Kilmer was named after his father who died when he was four years old. His mother moved him and his older sister to San Francisco when he was a teenager. There he developed an interest in acting, which led him to study at Saint Ignatius College Preparatory. After high school, he attended Santa Clara University for two years before transferring to Carnegie Mellon University for their renowned drama program where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Drama. He then took parts in small theaters both on and off Broadway and began landing roles in television shows including Moonlighting, Love Boat: The Next Wave (which would be renamed The Love Boat: Next Wave after one season), Murphy Brown and Picket Fences.
His Net Worth And Career Highlights
At a net worth of $45 million, Val Edward Kilmer is one of Hollywood’s richest actors. He’s done voice acting for The Batman and appeared in notable roles in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. In recent years, he co-starred alongside Jim Carrey in Yes Man (2008) and starred in five films that premiered at Cannes: Bad Company (2002), The Salton Sea (2002), Wonderland (2003), Alexander (2004) and Killshot (2008). Next up, fans can see him with Tom Cruise as Lewis in Rock of Ages which hits theaters on June 15th.
His Marriage To And Separation From His First Wife Catherine Ann Cindy Towers (1963 – 1987)
In July 1982, Kilmer married actress Catherine Ann Cathy Towers. The couple had a son, Mercedes (born September 1983), and a daughter, Jennifer (born May 1986). In 1986, while still married to Towers, he met and began an affair with actress and singer Joanne Gardner. He separated from Towers to live with Gardner in 1987. His First Son With Catherine: In March 1988, he petitioned for a legal separation from his wife citing irreconcilable differences. He sought joint custody of their children but did not offer financial support for them after the divorce became final in 1989.
What Is The Current State Of His Relationship With His Ex-Wife Cindy?
Sadly, we’re not as certain about his love life as we are about his career. After 15 years of marriage to Cindy, he filed for divorce in April 2015 and finalized it a year later. They share two children together: daughter Mercedes and son Jack. Val reportedly has an adult son from a previous relationship named Trevor who is said to have been born when Val was still an adolescent himself. Tragically, Trevor passed away at age 27 due to heart complications in 2011; he was also suffering from cancer at that time so perhaps that’s why there haven’t been any public pictures of him since 2010 or so.
Q. & A.
Val Edward Kilmer is an American actor. He was born on December 31, 1959. Originally a stage actor, he is most well known for his film work in Top Secret! (1984), Real Genius (1985), and as Jim Morrison in The Doors (1991). He had roles in movies like Heat, Batman Forever, Timecop, and Willow. In 2005, he played author Ernest Hemingway in The Killers, and had a more recent role as Cardinal Thomas Harvey in The Jane Austen Book Club.
Does Val Kilmer talk in Top Gun: Maverick?
Yes, Val Kilmer does talk in Top Gun: Maverick. His last speaking role was when Iceman and Maverick were flying off together to start training for Top Gun school. This was their last scene before they went their separate ways after saying goodbye. He says: So, we really are going? He also talked during his final speech in Willow. Click here to read more.
Is Val Kilmer ill?
In 2017, Val was diagnosed with oral cancer. He subsequently underwent surgery on his tonsils and lymph nodes in May 2017 to remove cancerous cells. As of 2018, he is not ill anymore, but a little weak due to lack of eating solid food.
Why did Val Kilmer stop acting?
Although there have been many rumors, most of which have been circulated by unreliable sources on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere online, no concrete answers exist to explain why Val Kilmer has largely disappeared from Hollywood. However, we can make some educated guesses based on his history as an actor…
Is Tom Cruise in new top gun?
Rumors of Tom Cruise replacing actor Tom Skerritt in Top Gun 2 have been denied by Paramount Pictures. While a follow-up to Tony Scott’s 1986 classic is in development, Cruise has apparently not been approached to reprise his role as Pete Maverick Mitchell or offer any advice on casting decisions. In August 2012 reports began to circulate that Cruise had overtaken Robert Downey Jr and Matthew McConaughey as frontrunners for Maverick’s reins.
Who is in the new Top Gun?
On Wednesday, September 25th, producer Jerry Bruckheimer revealed on Twitter that actor Tom Cruise will star in Top Gun 2 with Miles Teller playing his son. Filming for Top Gun: Maverick is scheduled to begin in 2018. No official release date has been announced yet. We do know that producer Jerry Bruckheimer has said that if we don’t get started by spring or summer of next year… then we’re just not going to make it.
Are Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell friends?
It’s a complicated relationship. According to an interview, Top Gun star Val Kilmer says that he and his Escape from New York co-star Kurt Russell have been friends for 35 years—but according to Russell, they met eight months ago. The pair can’t seem to agree on much of anything regarding their relationship—they also disagree on how long they’ve been in each other’s lives.
Will Val Kilmer be in Top Gun 2?
Rumors that Top Gun 2 was in production started circulating on Twitter shortly after news of its predecessor broke. One of those tweets came from actor Val Kilmer, who played rival fighter pilot Iceman in Top Gun and is rumored to be reprising his role in Top Gun 2.
Is Val Kilmer difficult on set?
Even though you’re probably most familiar with him as Tom Cruise’s nimble-footed rival Iceman in Top Gun, it turns out that he has had a long career that extends far beyond flying fighter jets. In fact, his life story reads more like something you’d see in one of those artsy biopics. To find out what else is going on behind his actor façade, just keep reading!
Who is Kelly Mcgillis wife?
Kelly McGillis is an American actress. Her most famous film roles are in Top Gun (1986), The Accused (1988), and in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). She also starred as Dr. Carol Weston on Diagnosis Murder from 1993-2001. In 1994, McGillis came out of retirement to act in The Real McCoy, a drama about 1930s Hollywood. This was followed by two more films: Breaking Up and Mad Love.
How old is Kelly Mcgillis in Top Gun?
Kelly McGillis (born November 24, 1957) is an American actress and author. She came to prominence with her performance in Witness (1985), receiving Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress. She was also notable for her role as Connie in The Accused (1988).
How old was Tom Cruise in Top Gun?
Tom Cruise was just 26 years old when Top Gun came out in 1986. The film was incredibly successful, grossing $350 million at box offices around the world. It even led to a sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, which is scheduled for release in 2020. It seems as though Cruise has been part of Hollywood forever—but he wasn’t always a major star! Cruise grew up with humble beginnings in his hometown of Syracuse, New York.
…