[ Source: BBC News ]
Directors including Ron Howard, Francis Ford Coppola and Michael Mann have paid tribute to actor Val Kilmer, following his death aged 65.
Kilmer starred in some of the biggest movies of the 1980s and 90s, including Top Gun and Batman Forever.
Coppola described Kilmer as “a wonderful person to work with and a joy to know”, while Howard praised his “awesome range as an actor”.
Singer Cher, a former girlfriend of Kilmer’s, summed him up as “funny, crazy, pain in the ass, GREAT FRIEND” and “brave” during his illness.
Kilmer died of pneumonia on Tuesday in Los Angeles, his daughter Mercedes told US media. She said her father had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 but later recovered.
Tracheotomy surgery affected his voice and curtailed his acting career, but he returned to the screen to reprise his role as fighter pilot Iceman alongside Tom Cruise in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick.
Kilmer’s other film credits included 1991’s The Doors – playing the legendary band’s frontman Jim Morrison – plus the Western Tombstone and crime drama Heat.
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