Val Kilmer died on April 1, 2025. He famously was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 losing his voice. His cancer was in remission and reports are saying that he passed away from pneumonia.
Kilmer was pure, unadulterated, dutiful, walking, talking, live action art. He made the written word jump off the pages into the movie theaters and captured every slight nuance and emotion of every character he touched, and you believed it. He was a master of the suspension of disbelief. When Kilmer hit the screen, you forgot you were looking at Kilmer. You were looking at Doc Holliday, you could feel the cowardice of John Holmes, the helplessness and childlike naivety behind the outward monster of his portrayal of Jim Morrison, and the regrettably honorable man behind Madmartigan; Kilmer was a real genius. See what I did there? HA! I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself. At least I didn’t bring up Lazlo in his pajamas.
Kilmer leaves behind a legendary legacy of work that should be studied by future generations of actors/actresses and artists alike. He also leaves behind his two children, Mercedes and Jack Kilmer.
Art Inspires Art
Every Dick, Tom, and Harry along with every overpaid, over compromised news reporter is going to shovel out the same, probably prewritten obituary and tribute to the late and legendary Val Edward Kilmer. That’s why I named some of his lesser hyped and equally brilliant performances.
The first time I saw Kilmer on screen, I was very young, I can’t even say exactly how old, but I know it was the 1984 classic “Top Secret!” From that moment I was hooked. I consumed just about every film he did after that. Even his indie period with great lesser-known titles like “The Salton Sea” and “Wonderland.”
To me, Kilmer was an inspiration and helped shape who I was as a writer and artist. Without his influence, I might have been very different today. I don’t usually get mournful over a celebrity death, but I’ll be honest to you readers, this one is hitting me hard. I guess we all have one or two of those. Mine are Kilmer and Dick Van Dyke. That one is going to hurt as well.
When I saw Kilmer’s portrayal of Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s epic The Doors, I changed. Not only did I dive deep into the music, but it seduced me into the world of poetry. Much like Noah, I built the boat and allowed his flood to take me where it was going to take me.
I read everything from William Blake, which sent me into Jack Kerouac, that threw me into Ginsberg, Charles Bukowski and Baudelaire. It sent me into the world of art and literature.
That’s what an outstanding artist should do, right? They don’t aim to necessarily inspire people, but their passion and talent just naturally does it. That’s what Kilmer did for me.
The Twain Connection
My passion for Mark Twain started with my grandmother on my mother’s side. She was a huge fan of Twain. When she passed away I was given her gilt edged copy of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” It still had her bookmark in it. I never moved it from that page. It stays firmly between pages 40 and 41.
Much like Kilmer my love and intrigue for Mark Twain is as long and deep as Samuel Clemons’ longing for the Mississippi River.
Every morning I wake up to a painting of Mark Twain that sits proudly upon my shelf next to a picture of my father, grandfather, myself, and chosen uncle. I strategically placed it there in the room so that my eyes saw those two possessions first. The Mark Twain artwork I have was done on a tin that Val Kilmer did specifically for me.
My girlfriend at the time, Rachel reached out to Kilmer by email and told him how much his work has meant to me and how huge of a fan I was of him and Mark Twain. To this day, I have no idea how she pulled that off, but she did.
I did not know Mr. Kilmer personally, though I would have loved to have met him just once. Just to thank him for his body of work, his dedication to his craft, and for just being him. I hope he is resting in peace among the other great artists that have passed. I hope he left this world with the knowledge that he truly inspired people. Hopefully he knew what his work meant to people over the years and some of us grew with him as his art matured.
In a world of purely for profit art and uninspired artists and content creators, be a Kilmer. Bring back the authenticity of art into the world.