Val Kilmer was more than just a Hollywood legend — he was also a cancer survivor.
The “Batman Forever” star battled throat cancer years before he died at 65 from pneumonia on Tuesday.
Kilmer received his initial diagnosis in 2014 but was cancer-free by 2021. However, Kilmer’s treatment, which included chemotherapy, radiation and two tracheotomies, permanently affected his health.
The movie star opened up about his health battle over the years, including in his 2021 documentary “Val.”
Here’s everything Kilmer said about his throat cancer battle.
Val initially denied he had throat cancer
It was first reported by TMZ in January 2015 that Kilmer was taken to the hospital after he began bleeding from his throat and was diagnosed with a throat tumor.
But Kilmer said in a statement at the time, “I have not had a tumor, or a tumor operations, or any operation. I had a complication where the best way to receive care was to stay under the watchful eye of the UCLA ICU.”
In October 2016, Kilmer’s “The Ghost and the Darkness” co-star Michael Douglas revealed that Kilmer had cancer — which the actor initially denied.
“I love Michael Douglas, but he is misinformed,” Kilmer wrote on Facebook. He also told his fans that Douglas “wrote me a nice note apologizing” for what he said.
Val confirmed he had throat cancer in 2017
Kilmer finally confirmed his diagnosis in a Reddit AMA in April 2017.
In response to a question about Douglas’ comment, Kilmer wrote, “He was probably trying to help me cause press probably asked where I was these days, and I did have a healing of cancer, but my tongue is still swollen altho healing all the time. Because I don’t sound my normal self yet people think I may still be under the weather.”
Later that year, Kilmer confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter that he had been battling throat cancer for two years.
In 2020, Kilmer told the New York Times that he had surgery after his diagnosis, followed by chemotherapy and radiation “that zapped my whole throat, and it’s still dry as a bone.”
The latest on actor Val Kilmer, dead at 65
Val leaned on Cher during his cancer battle
The “Top Gun” actor said in his 2020 memoir, “I’m Your Huckleberry,” that his ex-girlfriend Cher (whom he dated for two years in the early 1980s) was there for him when he was sick.
“One night, I suddenly awoke vomiting blood that covered the bed like a scene out of ‘The Godfather.’ I prayed immediately, then called 911. Then alerted my hostess. Cher stepped in and stepped up,” Kilmer wrote in his book, according to People magazine.
“And yet even in my grave condition, I saw her scanning the paramedic, who was Gregory Peck drop-dead handsome. Only in Hollywood, right?” he recalled. “Despite the fact that I was covered in blood, I caught her eye and bounced my brows like Groucho Marx. Hubba hubba. Cher was bashful to be busted but then couldn’t help laughing out loud at the audacity. Here we were, joking about beauty and desire, while I looked like a stunt man from Tarantino’s ‘Reservoir Dogs’ and, yes, while my life seemed to be in mortal danger. We laughed out loud before they finished with my vitals and shut me up with an oxygen mask.”
Val used a voice box and feeding tube after his cancer treatment
Kilmer’s cancer treatments permanently damaged his voice. In his 2021 documentary, he opened up about having to use a voice box to speak and a feeding tube to eat.
“I can’t speak without plugging this hole [in his throat]. You have to make the choice to breathe or to eat,” he said of the feeding tube. “It’s an obstacle that is very present with whoever sees me.”
Kilmer added in the doc, “I’m still recovering, and it is difficult to talk and to be understood. But I want to tell my story more than ever.”
Val’s children supported him during his cancer battle
Kilmer and his ex-wife Joanne Whalley’s two children, daughter Mercedes, 33, and son Jack, 29, produced their dad’s documentary with him. Jack also narrated the project for Kilmer.
In 2020, Kilmer praised his “really brilliant” kids in an interview with People, and said they “really have done everything to make my health as usual.”
When the documentary came out, Mercedes told the outlet of her dad, “When he was first diagnosed, the prognosis did not look very good. But he’s always been very physically resilient. The way he’s related to his illness has definitely been very inspiring. He has such a sense of humor. Even in the hospital he’d be cracking jokes and making all of the doctors laugh. But, of course, it’s really difficult to go through that with a parent and also to go through it with someone in the public eye.”
Jack explained that the family did things “every day to soothe” Kilmer’s vocal chord, “but they’re very damaged.”
“It’s funny I don’t notice it anymore,” he added. “I’m so familiar with his voice that maybe I hear his old voice when I’m talking to him. It’s hard, but that’s life. We appreciate every day we get to see him and be around him.”
