Val Kilmer’s family has spoken out following the Hollywood star’s death at age 65 earlier this week.
The actor’s daughter, Mercedes, 33, on Wednesday confirmed the “Batman Forever” star’s death, revealing that he died of pneumonia in Los Angeles.
Two days later, Kilmer’s children — Mercedes and son Jack — thanked friends, family and fans for “honoring our extraordinary father’s memory.”
“We are so proud of him and honored to see his legacy celebrated,” they told People in a statement. “At this time, we would like to grieve privately.”
The “Top Gun” actor had a six-year bout with throat cancer after being diagnosed in 2015.
The condition had affected his ability to speak due to chemotherapy and radiation therapy, which required two tracheotomies. In 2021, he declared he was cancer-free.
Kilmer’s last public outing saw him and Mercedes attend the annual Thespians Go Hollywood Gala at Avalon Hollywood on Nov. 18, 2019.
The father-daughter duo, who shared a close bond, posed for pictures together on the red carpet.
Kilmer shared his two kids with his ex-wife, British actress Joanne Whalley. The former couple were married from 1988 to 1995.
The actor was reportedly confined to his bed in the final years of his life as a result of the grueling cancer treatment he underwent following his diagnosis.
The actor’s body “simply couldn’t keep fighting at the end,” sources told TMZ, adding that “his body eventually shut down.”
Kilmer was “very frail at the end of his life” and his death was not sudden, insiders added.
The actor had an active social media presence in recent years, with one of his final posts on Instagram showing him wearing a Batman mask in a sweet nod to one of his most successful roles in his decades-long career.
“It’s been a while,” he quipped in the clip, shared with his 645,000 followers on the platform.
Kilmer was cast in Joel Schumacher’s 1995 hit “Batman Forever” after actor Michael Keaton had dropped out.
The film went on to become a box office smash, grossing over $336 million.
“Everything was different about this job than I’d experienced before. The size of the character and how strange it was that Michael Keaton had decided not to do it — I just said yes, without reading the script,” Kilmer told Entertainment Tonight in 1995.
