{"id":1758,"date":"2025-04-07T17:48:25","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T17:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=1758"},"modified":"2025-04-07T17:48:25","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T17:48:25","slug":"val-kilmer-may-no-longer-be-with-us-but-his-children-jack-and-mercedes-will-forever-carry-the-memory-of-an-extraordinary-father-who-shaped-their-lives-in-ways-words-cant-capture-the-star-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=1758","title":{"rendered":"Val Kilmer may no longer be with us, but his children, Jack and Mercedes, will forever carry the memory of an &#8220;extraordinary father&#8221; who shaped their lives in ways words can&#8217;t capture. The star of Tombstone, who left us on April 1, leaves behind not just a legacy on screen, but the love and lessons he shared with those closest to him. Our hearts ache for his children as they face the unbearable pain of losing a father like no other&#8230; Watch below \ud83d\udc47\ud83d\udc47\ud83d\udc47"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 id=\"h-top-gun-and-tombstone-star-val-kilmer-died-on-april-1\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Top Gun<\/em>\u00a0And\u00a0<em>Tombstone<\/em>\u00a0Star Val Kilmer Died On April 1<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/8Ao3OpHm1uE\/maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Val Kilmer &amp; Children Jack &amp; Mercedes Reveal How He's Changed After  Battling Throat Cancer | THR\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-1\"><\/div>\n<p>Val Kilmer\u2019s children released a statement to thank everyone for the support they\u2019ve received since he passed away on April 1.<\/p>\n<p>Kilmer was beloved for his roles in iconic projects such as\u00a0<em>Tombstone<\/em>\u00a0(1993),\u00a0<em>Top Gun<\/em>\u00a0(1986), and<em>\u00a0Batman Forever<\/em>\u00a0(1995).\u00a0<strong>He made his last film appearance in 2022\u2019s\u00a0<em>Top Gun: Maverick<\/em>, where he reprised his role as \u201cIceman\u201d Tom Kazansky.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-2\"><\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201c<em>I\u2019ve known Val for decades, and for him to come back and play that character\u2026he\u2019s such a powerful actor that he instantly became that character again<\/em>,\u201d Kilmer\u2019s Top Gun co-star, Tom Cruise, told Jimmy Kimmel in 2023. He added, \u201c<em>I was crying, I was crying. I got emotional. He\u2019s such a brilliant actor, I love his work<\/em>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Top Gun: Maverick (2022) - Maverick &amp; Iceman Scene | Movieclips\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fV0ApOOSGBc\" width=\"350\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-origwidth=\"350\" data-origheight=\"235\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015. He underwent a procedure on his trachea that, unfortunately, damaged his vocal cords, altering his voice and making it difficult for him to speak. He also underwent chemotherapy and had two tracheotomies.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sadly,\u00a0Kilmer passed away\u00a0on April 1, 2025, at the age of 65.\u00a0<\/strong>His daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, confirmed the news and said he died of pneumonia.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-3\"><\/div>\n<h2 id=\"h-val-kilmer-s-children-remember-him-as-an-extraordinary-father\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Val Kilmer\u2019s Children Remember Him As An \u201cExtraordinary\u201d Father<\/h2>\n<p>Kilmer had two children: daughter Mercedes (age 33) and son Jack (age 28). On Thursday (April 3), they released a statement to thank his fans for supporting them and remembering their father.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201c<em>Thank you for honoring our extraordinary father\u2019s memory<\/em>,\u201d they said in a statement cited by\u00a0<em>PEOPLE<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>They spoke about his illustrious career, saying, \u201c<em>We are so proud of him and honored to see his legacy celebrated<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kilmer\u2019s family ended their statement by asking the public to respect their privacy as they grieve their loss. They said, \u201c<em>At this time, we would like to grieve privately<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Val Kilmer &amp; Children Jack &amp; Mercedes Reveal How He's Changed After Battling Throat Cancer | THR\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8Ao3OpHm1uE\" width=\"350\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-origwidth=\"350\" data-origheight=\"235\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Tom Cruise also\u00a0broke his silence about Kilmer\u2019s death. He paused to remember his friend and former co-star while speaking at CinemaCon on Thursday (April 3).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cruise said:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cI\u2019d like to take a moment before we get started today to honor a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can\u2019t tell you how much I admired his work and him as a human being, how grateful and honored I was that he joined Top Gun and came back for Top Gun: Maverick.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Cruise asked the crowd to join him in a moment of silence. After that, he said, \u201c<em>Thank you, Val. I wish you well on your next journey.<\/em>\u201c<\/p>\n<p><strong>Our hearts go out to all of Val Kilmer\u2019s loved ones, especially his children, as they mourn their loss\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Tom Cruise HONORS Val Kilmer at CinemaCon: \u2018I Wish You Well on Your Next Journey\u2019\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dHUgO9GYn9U\" width=\"350\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-origwidth=\"350\" data-origheight=\"235\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Top Gun\u00a0And\u00a0Tombstone\u00a0Star Val Kilmer Died On April 1 Val Kilmer\u2019s children released a statement to thank everyone for the support they\u2019ve received since he passed away on&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1758"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1760,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1758\/revisions\/1760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}