Val Kilmer died of pneumonia on April 1 in Los Angeles, his daughter Mercedes told media.
The actor was 65.
His daughter said her father had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 but later recovered.
Tracheotomy surgery affected his voice and curtailed his acting career, but he returned to the screen to reprise his role as fighter pilot Iceman alongside Tom Cruise in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick.
Val Kilmer starred in some of the biggest movies of the 1980s and 90s, including Top Gun and Batman Forever.
His other film credits included 1991’s The Doors – playing the legendary band’s frontman Jim Morrison – plus the Western Tombstone and crime drama Heat.
Born Val Edward Kilmer on December 31, 1959, Kilmer grew up in a middle-class family in Los Angeles.
His parents were Christian Scientists, a movement to which Val Kilmer would adhere for the rest of his life.
Aged 17, he became the then-youngest pupil to enrol at the Julliard School, in New York, one of the world’s most prestigious drama conservatories.
He made his name in the comedies Top Secret! in 1984 and Real Genius the following year, before cementing his acting credentials as Iceman, the nemesis to Tom Cruise’s character Maverick in 1986’s Top Gun, one of the decade’s defining movies.
Val Kilmer went on to star in fantasy Willow and crime thriller Kill Me Again – both alongside British actress Joanne Whalley, who he married in 1988. The couple had two children.
He further proved his dynamic and versatile talents when he convincingly portrayed rock frontman Jim Morrison in The Doors, 20 years after the singer’s death.
Tombstone, in which Val Kilmer played gunfighter Doc Holliday, and Heat, in which he appeared alongside Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, were also hits.
He took over Batman’s cape from Michael Keaton for Batman Forever in 1995, which achieved box office success but mixed reviews, and Val Kilmer pulled out of the next Batman movie.
In 1997, Val Kilmer appeared in The Saint as the master criminal and master of disguise – based on Leslie Charteris’ books, which had also inspired the 1960s TV show starring Roger Moore.