Val Kilmer, star of "Top Gun," "The Doors" and several other classic films, died Tuesday in Los Angeles, according to his family.
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00:00We begin with the very sad news about Val Kilmer passing away on Tuesday evening here in Los Angeles at the age of 65.
00:10And obviously we all know he had been battling cancer years ago.
00:15He was diagnosed in 2014, but his death really shocked a lot of people because he had gotten better.
00:25And he had said that he had beaten cancer and was in remission.
00:30So this sudden news on Tuesday evening was really shocking.
00:34What we've learned, though, is his family has known that his health has been on the decline for quite some time now.
00:43And, you know, you may have seen there was a post on his Instagram about a month ago.
00:50And while his voice was weak and we knew that his voice was weak from the throat cancer, it at least seemed like he was in good spirits.
00:59And people really saw this and took to it because in the video he puts on the Batman mask.
01:07But what we found out, even though that was posted a month ago, that is a much older video.
01:13So that is not reflective. We hadn't seen him in so long, Charles.
01:15I think people were wondering what's going on with Val Kilmer.
01:18And you saw that. You say, OK, he's in good shape.
01:20Right. The last time I think we saw him was in public, was before the last time of the last Top Gun.
01:27Right. Which was, I believe, twenty twenty two.
01:29Right. Yeah. And I actually spoke to some people connected to the family who told me that ever since Maverick, he's been bedridden and he's had a lot of health issues.
01:39As you guys mentioned, he did have cancer.
01:41I'm told that he was cancer free, but because of all the treatments that he underwent from the cancer, he was extremely weak.
01:49And even in his final days, I'm told he was very, very frail and he was hospitalized earlier this year.
01:57I'm told. And that that video you mentioned, Charles, that's actually years old and was not a clear it was not a picture of who he was in the final years of his life.
02:08Family were very aware of his health declining, and they were at an L.A.
02:14hospital as recent as Thursday because they knew they had to say their goodbyes.
02:20I think even if you and if you've seen Top Gun Maverick, you know, watching the movie, it was a very small role, but it was very difficult for him to even get through those couple of lines.
02:30So much so, Charles, they had to use A.I.
02:32to essentially recreate his voice.
02:35So you knew then he probably wasn't in the greatest.
02:37Yeah. But man, what an amazing career that that everyone in Hollywood is celebrating.
02:44And, you know, Val Kilmer, if we're just going to be honest about it, was a guy who had a reputation, at least for being difficult to some directors.
02:52Yeah. But all of his is his co-stars said that he was an amazing actor to everyone is and they're talking about it today.
03:03But you remember him in all of these roles.
03:05And as the audience, you don't really care whether someone's difficult.
03:11Is it a good product at the end of the day?
03:13I care what you what what you end up seeing.
03:15Right. I heard one of a lot of great.
03:16Yeah, I heard Jerry Ferrara from Entourage.
03:18He had a very small role.
03:19A cameo was saying that he stayed in character the entire time that they filmed the scene.
03:24But that was the thing. He was a very serious actor.
03:26He went to Juilliard. He was always thought of himself as a very serious actor.
03:29And he was great, because when you think of a lot of his movies like Top Gun, like Tombstone, like he like he wasn't the star of those movies.
03:37But he was often one of, if not the most memorable parts about it, like his line in Tombstone.
03:41I'm your Huckleberry is the most famous thing about that movie because he was just such a presence on camera.
03:45And he really was a great actor.
03:47Yeah. Yeah. What a testament to him.
03:49Right. Maybe not being the star of the movie, but you remember his role.
03:52He's the guy you remember when it walked away from it.
03:54Hey, Charlie, I wanted to ask something.
03:56I know you'd spoken to some family members and they said that his treatment from the cancer had taken a toll on him.
04:05Do we know when he decided to get the treatment?
04:07Very famously, when he was diagnosed with cancer, Val Kilmer was a Christian scientist and did not really want to take Western medicine and really relied on prayer.
04:18And at one point it said that prayer was saving him.
04:22But obviously he did get treatments.
04:23Do we know anything about what they were, Charlie, or?
04:26Yeah, I'm not exactly sure.
04:28But, you know, when he did come to terms with the fact that he had that throat cancer, we know that he had been hospitalized.
04:35And usually in the Christian scientist religion, you don't even believe in going to the hospital.
04:40But he did at a point realize, you know, I have to go to the hospital.
04:45So and of course, you know, as we know, he passed away in an L.A.
04:50So there were things that it appears he was doing that weren't necessarily didn't really align with his beliefs, but that he did do because a lot of his family also had encouraged him to undergo treatment and be at the hospital and be around doctors and things like that.
05:07I'm Simone from Atlanta, and he really was the king of sarcasm and the master of cool.
05:13And I'll never forget watching Top Gun when I was younger and thinking Iceman is the coolest, whether it was rocking a leather jacket or delivering a line with sharp wit.
05:24Valve really was a legend.
05:25So prayers to his family, because we all lost him.
05:29But Hollywood lost a whole lot more.
05:32That really did.
05:33And by the way, while he's remembered for some very serious roles, that was actually really comedic roles.
05:39I mean, I remember him from Real Genius, but that's way, way back in like mid 80s.
05:45Nobody remembers that.
05:46I don't remember that.
05:47Yeah.