Val Kilmer Cause of Death: Top Gun Actor's Demise Receives Official Confirmation with Death Certificate Review; Report

Val Kilmer's cause of death officially announced via certificate. Keep reading to know more about the Batman actor's demise.

Ipshita Chakraborty
Written by Ipshita Chakraborty , Entertainment Journalist
Published on Apr 11, 2025 | 03:31 AM GMT | 144K
CC: Getty Images
CC: Getty Images

Trigger Warning: Mention of death.

Val Kilmer passed away on April 1, 2025. The official cause of his death has now been revealed. The actor had been struggling with health battles for decades before dying at the age of 65. 

On a death certificate acquired by People magazine, Kilmer is stated to have died due to pneumonia. A couple of conditions listed are "acute hypoxemic respiratory failure, chronic respiratory failure, and squamous cell carcinoma of the base of the tongue."

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Mercedes Kilmer, his daughter, previously disclosed to The New York Times that he passed away due to pneumonia. She also discussed his prolonged fight against throat cancer, which started in 2014. Although he subsequently recovered, the sickness had a great impact on him.

During a rare interview in 2017, Kilmer confessed that cancer had altered his life. Kilmer remained quiet about his health in the initial stages of his condition while rumors were surfacing publicly. He broke the silence speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, where he discussed the adverse impact of cancer on his physical as well as professional well-being.

In his memoir, which came out in 2020, titled I’m Your Huckleberry, the actor discussed his battle with cancer in great detail. He wrote, “Reports emerged that I was in denial. Well, denial is a funny thing. I was not denying that I had had cancer but was simply saying I no longer did.”

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He added, “And to be honest, it was very hard to embrace my original diagnosis. It was surreal. I didn’t believe I was decomposing, and I wasn’t ready to die.”

Even though his voice was irreparably damaged, he remained active in the film industry. He made a short but poignant cameo in Top Gun: Maverick in 2021, playing his character Iceman again, an emotional interaction that brought lead actor Tom Cruise to tears. 

Val Kilmer's life was a decades-long career punctuated by iconic performances in Top Gun, The Doors, Batman Forever, and more. He was cremated on April 7.

ALSO READ: Val Kilmer Death: Learn About Top Gun Star's Brave Journey With Throat Cancer Before Death

About The Author
Ipshita Chakraborty
Ipshita Chakraborty
Entertainment Journalist

Ipshita is an Entertainment Journalist at Pinkvilla with an M.Phil in English Literature. They speci...

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