Val Kilmer updates: Tributes pour in as Top Gun star dies aged 65 after years-long battle with cancer

Brian Lynch, the screenwriter behind Minions and Secret Life of Pets, wrote on Bluesky: 'The Doors. Top Secret! Tombstone. Top Gun. Real Genius. Willow. Batman Forever. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. True Romance. Macgruber. Heat. There was nobody like Val Kilmer. May he Rest in Peace.'

Emmy-nominated TV writer and comedian Mike Drucker posted: 'Val Kilmer felt like an actor who, no matter what the material, always understood the assignment.'

Pablo Hidalgo - a Lucasfilm executive - posted: 'Oh man, not Val Kilmer. His comedic chops were top notch but he had a fascinating storm roiling beneath the surface. Madmartigan was an icon.'

The account for Top Gun on X posted a tribute to the actor.

Kilmer spent his formative years in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles. He attended Chatsworth High School alongside future Oscar winner Kevin Spacey and future Emmy winner Mare Winningham. At 17, he was the youngest drama student ever admitted at the Juilliard School in 1981.

Shortly after he left for Juilliard, his younger brother, 15-year-old Wesley, suffered an epileptic seizure in the family's Jacuzzi and died on the way to the hospital. Wesley was an aspiring filmmaker when he died.

'I miss him and miss his things. I have his art up. I like to think about what he would have created. I'm still inspired by him,' Kilmer told the Times.

While still at Juilliard, Kilmer co-wrote and appeared in the play 'How It All Began' and later turned down a role in Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Outsiders' for the Broadway play, 'Slab Boys,' alongside Kevin Bacon and Sean Penn.

Kilmer published two books of poetry (including 'My Edens After Burns') and was nominated for a Grammy in 2012 for spoken word album for 'The Mark of Zorro.' He was also a visual artist and a lifelong Christian Scientist.

He dated Cher, married and divorced actor Joanne Whalley.

He is survived by their two children, Mercedes and Jack.

Kilmer, the youngest actor ever accepted to the prestigious Juilliard School at the time he attended, experienced the ups and downs of fame more dramatically than most.

His break came in 1984's spy spoof 'Top Secret!' followed by the comedy 'Real Genius' in 1985. Kilmer would later show his comedy chops again in films including 'MacGruber' and 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.'

His movie career hit its zenith in the early 1990s as he made a name for himself as a dashing leading man, starring alongside Kurt Russell and Bill Paxton in 1993's 'Tombstone,' as Elvis' ghost in 'True Romance' and as a bank-robbing demolition expert in Michael Mann's 1995 film 'Heat' with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.

The actor - who took part in the Method branch of Suzuki arts training - threw himself into parts. When he played Doc Holliday in 'Tombstone,' he filled his bed with ice for the final scene to mimic the feeling of dying from tuberculosis. To play Morrison, he wore leather pants all the time, asked castmates and crew to only refer to him as Jim Morrison and blasted The Doors for a year.

That intensity also gave Kilmer a reputation that he was difficult to work with, something he grudgingly agreed with later in life, but always defending himself by emphasizing art over commerce.

One of his more iconic roles - hotshot pilot Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky opposite Tom Cruise - almost didn't happen. Kilmer was courted by director Tony Scott for 'Top Gun' but initially balked.

'I didn't want the part. I didn't care about the film. The story didn't interest me,' he wrote in his memoir. He agreed after being promised that his role would improve from the initial script. He would reprise the role in the film's 2022 sequel, 'Top Gun: Maverick.'

One career nadir was playing Batman in Joel Schumacher's goofy, garish 'Batman Forever' with Nicole Kidman and opposite Chris O'Donnell`s Robin - before George Clooney took up the mantle for 1997's 'Batman & Robin' and after Michael Keaton played the Dark Knight in 1989's 'Batman' and 1992's 'Batman Returns.'

Janet Maslin in The New York Times said Kilmer was 'hamstrung by the straight-man aspects of the role,' while Roger Ebert deadpanned that he was a 'completely acceptable' substitute for Keaton. Kilmer, who was one and done as Batman, blamed much of his performance on the suit.

Towards the end of 'Val,' the 2021 documentary on his career, Kilmer said:

In a post on Instagram, actor Josh Gad paid tribute to action star Val Kilmer.

He said: 'RIP Val Kilmer. Thank you for defining so many of the movies of my childhood. You truly were an icon.'

He posted alongside this photo:

Actor Josh Brolin called Kilmer a 'smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker'.

Alongside a picture of the two, he wrote on Instagram: 'See ya, pal. I'm going to miss you. You were a smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker. There's not a lot left of those.

'I hope to see you up there in the heavens when I eventually get there. Until then, amazing memories, lovely thoughts.'

News of Kilmer's death has shocked fans and Hollywood.

His daughter Mercedes Kilmer, whom he shared with ex-wife Joanne Whalley, revealed he passed from pneumonia in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Aside from Mercedes, 33, he is also survived by son Jack Kilmer, 29. Kilmer was married to their mother Joanne from 1988 until 1996.

Good morning and welcome to MailOnline's coverage after Top Gun star Val Kilmer died aged 65.

His daughter Mercedes Kilmer revealed that he passed away from pneumonia in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Kilmer was known for his role as Iceman in the 1986 hit movie Top Gun and as Batman/Bruce Wayne in the 1995 Batman Forever. Despite his permanently damaged voice, he made a brief return to the screen in 2022's Top Gun: Maverick.

He also famously played musician Jim Morrison in the 1991 film The Doors.