Goodbye, Val Kilmer

 

   Val Kilmer just passed away a week ago and well...I want to talk about him as one of the great actors of the seventies, eighties and nineties and even his struggles he had to go through in his lifetime. Leaving us at 65 from pneumonia caused by his throat cancer which he had fought over for years. This was Val Kilmer's life.

  Born on New Years Eve in 1959, Val Kilmer didn't get his first break until he was a teenager getting into the Julliard School for acting. He didn't do much until the mid to late seventies when he starred in a comedy called Top Secret. Not knowing much about that, since I never saw the movie. But he would become a breakout star a few years later.

    Not wanting to be in the movie, he was eventually persuaded into being in the film starring as Tom Cruise's rival then friend named Iceman. He would think Cruise's character was a wreck loose and dangerous to work with, but soon they would partner up and Kilmer's character saw a different side of Cruise's character. He came back in the reboot which would be Kilmer's final movie.

 He also wasn't a bad singer in real life. Actually, he proved that by portraying Jim Morrison in the Doors movie. He did all his own singing and learned more about Jim's short life through the music and the tragic end. 

   He did a really good job in that movie. Sadly, I never saw it, but people would think he was faking the singing. That was 100 percent his voice.

    The first film I remember him in a movie was back in the 90's when he played an actual person named Doc Holiday. HIs most memorable moments were from the character not being afraid to die and saying, "I'm you're Huckleberry."

   Between Tombstone and a Kevin Costner film called Wyatt Earpp, both coming out at the same time, I think Tombstone had more accuracy in the time period as well as both Kurt Russell's portrayal of Wyatt being stronger than Kevin Costner. He even did something nice for Val Kilmer giving him a plot of land to be buried in when he died.  

   In the 90's some people, like I, found Val Kilmer wearing the bat suit as he took over for Michael Keaton in Batman Forever. First off, it would be the only time he would wear the bat suit since he had a difficult time working with Joel Schumacker. He got along with Jim Carrey who portrayed the Riddler since both of them had a similar tragedy in their childhood losing their fathers young.

     This movie wasn't the best, and he's not considered my favorite batman, but it's ok, just a movie that is better than Batman and Robin and that's kind of it.

  He was good doing voice acting back in 1999. There was a Dreamworks movie called Prince of Egypt. It's kind of told the story of Moses and his life from being a Jewish Orphan to having Pharoh free the slaves.

   Ralph Fines voiced the Pharah while Val voiced both Moses and the burnish bush/God. I thought the movie was very good and enjoyed every moment of it. Not many people knew Val did double voice duty.

  Val dated many women like Cher, Cindy Crawford, Angelina Jolie and Darryl Hannah. He has two children; a daughter named Mercades, and a son named Jack. Jack's voice is similar to his own father and decided to make a documentary taking about his father while he was suffering from cancer.

    Val Kilmer lost his voice to throat cancer and had to have his voice change by having a hole in it which he would cover with scarfs.

     He survived the cancer long enough to do one more movie with Tom Cruise who said that he would not do the movie without Val. He eventually said yes and had a small scene.

      I was not a huge fam of the Top Gum movies, but I did see some of Val Kilmer's final scenes in Maverick. His character, like him, suffered from cancer and wasn't going to make it. We had no idea it was going to be the truth two years after the movie was made.

     His character dies as well, and the funeral scene hits harder now than it did when he's no longer with us. I think his son did most of the voice work of the character since Val's real voice was gone.

      A great actor gone too soon, but we'll always look back at the great work he gave us. From being in a Batman suit, to being friends with Tom Cruise (which they were in real life) Tom even did a silent tribute to his good friend recently and it was heartwarming and sad.

      We'll never forget you, Iceman. You're my Huckleberry.