Val Kilmer, a fiercely original actor and visual artist, has died at age 65. He was best known for his electrifying performances in Top Gun, The Doors, and Tombstone. He was a rare Hollywood figure who moved between blockbuster fame and deeply personal artistic exploration with equal conviction.
Born in Los Angeles in 1959, Kilmer began early. After becoming one of the youngest students admitted to Juilliard’s Drama Division, he brought an almost Shakespearean intensity to every role. His portrayal of Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s The Doors (1991) wasn’t just acting – it was alchemy. He didn’t play Morrison; he channelled him, singing every vocal in a performance that blurred the lines between possession and artistry.
Behind the Hollywood persona lay a quieter, more contemplative creator. Kilmer’s paintings and collages – raw, spiritual, and often biblical in their themes – revealed a man grappling with the biggest questions. Following his throat cancer diagnosis in 2015, his art became both a refuge and a revelation. Working in a style that mixed abstract expressionism with symbolic collage, he created pieces that felt like visual prayers – layered with handwritten notes, fragmented imagery, and a profound sense of vulnerability.
Kilmer’s artistic influences were as eclectic as his filmography:
Abstract Expressionism: The gestural energy of De Kooning and the spiritual intensity of Rothko echo through Kilmer’s large-scale paintings, where thick impasto and dripping pigments create surfaces that feel alive with movement. Byzantine Iconography: Raised in a Christian Science household, Kilmer frequently incorporated gold leaf and religious symbolism into works like his Saint Series, where actor-friends (including Al Pacino) appear as modern-day apostles. Rauschenberg’s Combines
His collage works channel Robert Rauschenberg’s mixed-media approach, embedding fragments of scripts, personal notes and film memorabilia within painterly surfaces – a literal fusion of his Hollywood life and private reflections. Southwestern Mysticism: After moving to New Mexico, Kilmer began integrating Native American petroglyph motifs and desert earth tones into pieces like The Healer Diaries, inspired by his cancer recovery.
Unlike many actor-artists, Kilmer never treated painting as a hobby. His 2020 documentary Val showed us the notebooks he filled obsessively, the canvases he worked on between takes, and the way his artistic practices fed each other. There was no division between his acting and art – both were acts of self-exposure.
He lost his voice in recent years and spoke with the aid of a voice box. His visual art became essential to his life and legacy in his final years. Kilmer’s final works were shown in select galleries but were never properly exhibited. Like the man himself, they are impossible to categorise – by turns, angry, tender, mystical, and profoundly human.
Photo: Val Kilmer and Marina Abramovic at Untitled Art Fair Miami Beach 2 December 2013 © P C Robinson Artlyst 2025
Kilmer is survived by his children, Mercedes and Jack.
