Val Kilmer pictured in 2014

Val Kilmer, an actor who was a force in some of Hollywood’s most memorable films in the 1980s and 1990s, has died at the age of 65.

The screen legend died of pneumonia, and was surrounded by loved ones at the time of his death, according to his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer. She also noted that her father had been diagnosed with throat cancer over a decade ago only to later recover.

A native of Los Angeles and initially a stage actor, Val’s charm and charisma at the start as his career — kicked off by comedies Top Secret! and Real Genius — soon took to the skies as Lt. Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in Top Gun.

Val, who starred opposite of Tom Cruise, revealed in his 2020 memoir I’m Your Huckleberry that he initially didn’t want the part and didn’t care about the film, before his agent “basically tortured” him into meeting director Tony Scott, who promised him that the initial script would improve.

He’d go on to reprise his role as Iceman in the 2022 sequel Top Gun: Maverick” in an on-screen reunion with Tom Cruise that he described as

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