Val Kilmer is an American actor.
Let’s see some fun facts about him!
1. Val Edward Kilmer was born December 31, 1959 in Los Angeles.
2. He is the son of Gladys Swanette and Eugene Dorris Kilmer, an aerospace equipment distributor and real estate developer.
3. His parents divorced in 1968 when he was 8 years old. In 1977 Kilmer’s younger brother Wesley drowned in a swimming pool at age 15; their father died in 1993.
4. Kilmer’s grandfather was a gold miner in New Mexico, near the border with Arizona.
5. His mother was of Swedish descent.
6. His father’s ancestry included English, Scots-Irish, French and German.
7. Kilmer attended Berkeley Hall School, a Christian Science school in Los Angeles, until ninth grade.
8. He attended Chatsworth High School with Kevin Spacey and Mare Winningham, and also attended the Hollywood Professional School.
9. He became the youngest person at the time to be accepted into the Juilliard School’s Drama Division, where he was a member of Group 10.
10. On May 5, 2012, Kilmer was awarded an honorary doctorate of Fine Arts from William Woods University.
11. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! (1984), then the cult classic Real Genius (1985), as well as the military action film Top Gun (1986) and the fantasy film Willow (1988).
12. Some of his other notable film roles include Jim Morrison in The Doors (1991), Doc Holliday in Tombstone (1993), armed robber Chris Shiherlis in Heat (1995), Bruce Wayne / Batman in Batman Forever (1995), Simon Templar in The Saint (1997), astronaut Robby Gallagher in Red Planet (2000), and a meth-using informant in The Salton Sea (2002).
13. Kilmer was married to actress Joanne Whalley from March 1988 to February 1996. The two met while working together on the film Willow.
14. The couple had two children: a daughter, Mercedes (b. October 29, 1991), and a son, Jack (b. June 6, 1995).
15. Warwick Davis, Kilmer’s co-star from the 1988 fantasy Willow, in his audio commentary for the film said that the question he’s most asked is what it was like working with Kilmer. Though Kilmer has a reputation of being difficult, Davis describes him as a very funny man and a hard working, dedicated actor.
16. Kilmer reunited with Davis in the 2013 Easter special of the sitcom Life’s Too Short, in which he plays a fictionalized version of himself as a mooching, arrogant eccentric.
17. Kilmer has gotten into feuds with some of the actors with whom he has worked, notably The Island of Dr. Moreau co-star Marlon Brando and Red Planet co-star Tom Sizemore.
18. Other actors have noted that he prepares for his roles extensively and meticulously.
19. In 2011, Kilmer sold his 6,000-acre (24 km2) ranch in New Mexico, where he would track, hike, fish, and raise bison.
20. Kilmer is a devout Christian Scientist. He is also an avid musician; he released a CD in the fall of 2007 and donated its proceeds to his charity interests.
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