I am shocked to hear this. I did not know he was sick. I remember as a kid I wanted to be friends with Chris Knight in Real Genius. RIP.
He had been dealing with throat cancer, and complications from that (including tracheotomies), for ten years.
I loved him in Real Genius, too, as well as Top Secret!.
It’s still breaking news, so the reports on the news sites don’t yet have many details.
What a coincidence. I just had a dream where I saw myself standing in sort of sun-god robes on a pyramid with a thousand naked women screaming and throwing little pickles at me.
Were his last words I drank what?
Ah geez.
He died from pneumonia? Who dies from that anymore? (Him, I guess)
I’m only a few years younger than him. Grew up watching his movies. Sad he is gone.
I know most will remember him from “Top Gun” but I will remember him from “Top Secret.”
ETA: And “Willow.”
He’s not the first guy who fell in love with a woman that he met at a restaurant who turned out to be the daughter of a kidnapped scientist, only to lose her to her childhood lover who she last saw on a deserted island, who then turned out fifteen years later to be the leader of the French underground.
The elderly, people with weakened immune systems, and with underlying medical issues. Kilmer likely was in the latter two groups.
I enjoyed him in Willow (we quote it in my home a LOT), and Tombstone, and had heard about some of his troubles, but no, I also did not expect his passing this soon. Then again, some celebs manage to keep their troubles to themselves better than others, and was unaware of the degree of health challenges that kenobi_65 brought up.
I guess I’ll put Willow on tomorrow one more time…
I’ll be watching Real Genius tomorrow night. 
Who will be our huckleberry now?
About 11,000 people per day.
3rd leading cause of death worldwide (after heart disease & cancer).
So a lot of people, especially children & the elderly.
If you watch Top Gun: Maverick, he appears briefly and his character is dealing with a terrible illness and can barely speak. That’s because the actor was dealing with that in real life.
He was such an iconic actor. It’s hard to even think about how many things I’ve seen him in. Such a staple of the 80s, but he kept going long after. And such a range, from villainous to heroic to slimy to funny.
My favorite role of his today has to be Doc Holiday from Tombstone. That to me was his best role and probably one of the most iconic film characters ever done.
But my favorite role from when I was a kid was when he played Madmartigan in Willow, as others have mentioned. I loved that film, especially because real quality fantasy movies were so rare at the time, and he played a great rogue-turned hero.
Kilmer was erratic and arguably the second worst Batman, but he was great in the little seen Spartan and the dead-on-arrival-but-arisen-as-a-cult-film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang directed by Christmas action enthusiast Shane Black: “Who taught you math?”
Stranger
I never really thought about it before, but: while it’s not the most interesting portrayal to watch (or, as you say, the second-most, or the third-most), I have to admit that variations on ‘weirdly calm’ seem like a genuinely valid take on how Batman and Bruce Wayne might act…
Kilmer wasn’t a great Batman, but he was a fantastic Bruce Wayne.
My favorite movie of his, that I’ve seen (I haven’t seen Willow) is Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
RDJ: They call you Gay Perry. Still gay?
Kilmer: Nah. I’m knee-deep in pussy. I just can’t shake the name.
And Christian Scientists, I suppose, although I don’t know where he was with that these days. And yes, comorbidities (like have a lot of structural work on your upper airway), can make pneumonia a dangerous condition.
‘This is funny’
Aw, man. I had the biggest crush on him growing up.
I think my favorite of his was “The Saint.” Fun watching him play a whole buncha roles one after another.
Oh, and he was really the only choice to play Jim Morrison and man, did he nail that role.
Aw, man.
Thunderheart is one of my favorite movies.
Time to have a mini movie marathon.
I loved that movie. Not just for Kilmer, it was the first film I saw with Warwick Davis. It also was one of the first with really good CGI. When Willow transforms the sorceress through several forms before he gets it right, I was amazed.
Now the scenes in Top Gun: Maverick will be more poignant on re-watch. He also had a small role in Heat as well which is mostly forgotten since it is dominated by Pacino and De Niro. There is a documentary of his life called Val that just came out in 2021 where he discusses his life and his struggle with throat cancer (that is how I knew that he had it).
//i\\
I thought he did a very good Jim Morrison in The Doors movie and was impressed that he did his own singing. What a multi talented actor. Sad to hear of his passing. 