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Val Edward Kilmer (born December 31,
1959) is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer
became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances
in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! (1984), then the
cult classic Real Genius (1985), as well as blockbuster action
films, including a role in Top Gun and a lead role in Willow.
During the 1990s, Kilmer gained critical respect after a
string of films that were also commercially successful,
including his roles as Jim Morrison in The Doors, Doc Holliday
in 1993's Tombstone, and Batman in 1995's Batman Forever.
During the early 2000s, Kilmer appeared in several
well-received roles, including The Salton Sea, Spartan, and
acclaimed supporting performances in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and
Alexander.
Career
1980s
In 1981, Kilmer co-authored and starred in the play How It All
Began, which was performed at the Public Theatre at the New
York Shakespeare Festival. Kilmer turned down a role in
Francis Ford Coppola's 1983 film, The Outsiders, as he had
prior theatre commitments.That same year, his first off-stage
acting role (excluding television commercials) came in the
form of a television short titled One Too Many, which was an
educational drama on drinking and driving;[13] it also starred
a young Michelle Pfeiffer. His big break came when he received
top billing in the spoof comedy Top Secret!, where he played
an American rock and roll star. Kilmer sang all the songs in
the film and actually released an album under the film
character's name, "Nick Rivers".
During a brief hiatus, he backpacked throughout Europe, before
going on to play the lead character in the 1985 comedy Real
Genius. He turned down roles in Dune and Blue Velvet,[15]
before being cast as Naval Aviator "Iceman" in the big budget
action film Top Gun, alongside Tom Cruise. Top Gun grossed a
total of $344,700,000 worldwide.[16] Following roles in the
television films The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Man Who
Broke 1,000 Chains, Kilmer played "Madmartigan" in the fantasy
Willow; he met his future wife, co-star Joanne Whalley, on the
film's set. Kilmer published a book of his poems, "My Edens
After Burns," in 1987, and starred in the Colorado Shakespeare
Festival production of Hamlet in 1988 He didn't want to do
Hamlet but because of contract obligations he had no choice.
In 1989, Kilmer played the lead in both Kill Me Again, again
opposite Whalley, and the first for TNT's Billy the Kid.
1990s
After several delays, director Oliver Stone finally started
production on the film, The Doors, based on the popular band
of the same name. Kilmer allegedly memorized the lyrics to all
of lead singer Jim Morrison's songs prior to his audition, and
sent a video of himself performing some Doors songs to
director Stone, which Oliver Stone actually claims was
detrimental to his audition. After Kilmer was cast as
Morrison, he prepared for the role by attending Doors tribute
concerts and reading Morrison's poetry.[17] He spent close to
a year before production dressing in Morrison-like clothes,
and spent time at Morrison's old hangouts along the Sunset
Strip. His portrayal of Morrison was praised and real members
of The Doors noted that Kilmer did such a convincing job that
they had trouble distinguishing his voice from Morrison's.
However, Doors keyboardist, Ray Manzarek, did not share the
same enthusiasm of how Morrison was portrayed by director
Oliver Stone's interpretation. In the early 1990s, Kilmer
starred in the mystery thriller Thunderheart, action comedy
The Real McCoy and again teamed with Top Gun director Tony
Scott to play Elvis in True Romance, which was written by
Quentin Tarantino.
In 1993, Kilmer played Doc Holliday in the western Tombstone
alongside Kurt Russell, in what some say is one of Kilmer's
finest performances. 1995 saw Kilmer star in Wings of Courage,
a 3D IMAX film, and in one of his biggest roles, playing
Batman in the big budget Batman Forever, which also starred
Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey and Nicole Kidman. The film was a
success at the box office,[18] despite receiving mixed
reviews.[19] That same year, Kilmer starred opposite Al Pacino
and Robert De Niro in Heat, which is now considered one of the
best crime/drama films of the 1990s.[20] In 1996, he appeared
in a largely unknown film, Dead Girl, and starred alongside
Marlon Brando in the poorly received[21] The Island of Dr
Moreau. That year, Kilmer starred alongside Michael Douglas in
the thriller The Ghost & the Darkness. The next year he played
Simon Templar in the popular action film, The Saint. In 1998,
he lent his voice to the animated film The Prince of Egypt,
before starring in the independent film Joe the King (1999)
and playing a blind man in the drama/romance At First Sight,
which he described as of then, the hardest role he had ever
had.
Batman
In December 1993, Batman Forever director Joel Schumacher had
seen Tombstone, and was most impressed with Kilmer's
performance as Doc Holliday. Schumacher felt for him to be
perfect for the role of the Caped Crusader, though at the
time, the role was still Michael Keaton's.[23]
In July 1994, Michael Keaton decided not to return for a third
Batman film after 1992's Batman Returns, due to "creative
differences."Joel Schumacher supported Keaton's reason, saying
"some people don't want to play superheroes the rest of their
life. Even Sean Connery left James Bond." William Baldwin (who
previously worked with Schumacher on Flatliners) was reported
to be a top contender, though just days after Keaton dropped
out, Kilmer was cast. Kilmer took the role without even
knowing who the new director was and without reading the
script (possibly thinking Tim Burton was still set to
direct).Kilmer first learned that he was offered the role of
Batman while he was literally in a bat cave in Africa, doing
research for The Ghost and the Darkness (1996).
In February 1996, Kilmer decided not to return for a sequel
(1997's Batman & Robin with George Clooney replacing Kilmer),
feeling (much as Michael Keaton had when he vacated the role)
that Batman was being marginalized in favor of the villains.
Kilmer went on to do The Saint with a salary of $6 million
(triple the amount of his contract for Batman Forever).
When asked why he didn't return for a fourth installment,
Kilmer said he liked the characterization of Simon Templar
better than Bruce Wayne. Kilmer commented "Simon is a literary
character who uses his wit, and not violence. Batman is a real
screwed-up guy who has hustled an entire city, and now he's
running around in a cape. What's it all about?"
Batman creator Bob Kane said he felt Kilmer was the best actor
to portray Batman (though Kane did not live to see Christian
Bale in the role.)
2000s
Kilmer's first role in 2000 was in the big budget Warner Bros.
box office disaster[27] Red Planet. That same year, he had a
supporting role in the film Pollock and hosted Saturday Night
Live for the first time. During his SNL hosting, he spoofed
his role from Top Gun in a skit titled "Iceman: The Later
Years", in which he is now out of the Navy and in training
with a civilian airliner, however he is unable to fathom that
his airline co-pilots are not as gung-ho as his Navy comrades.
Kilmer's skit was also a joke that many retired fighter pilots
are only able to find work as airline pilots. In 2002, he
starred in the thriller The Salton Sea, which was generally
well-reviewed,[28] but received only a limited release. The
same year, he teamed with his True Romance co-star, Christian
Slater, and the two starred in the low budget film, Hard Cash,
also known as Run for the Money.
In 2003, Kilmer starred alongside Kate Bosworth in the
drama/thriller Wonderland, as well as appearing in The
Missing, where he again worked with Willow director Ron
Howard. The next year, he starred in Spartan, where he played
a United States government secret agent who is assigned the
task of rescuing the kidnapped daughter of the President. He
received Delta Force-like training in preparation for the
role.Subsequently, he had a role in the drama, Stateside, and
starred in the thriller Mindhunters, which was filmed in 2003
but not released until 2005. Kilmer next appeared in the big
budget Oliver Stone production, Alexander, which received
mixed reviews.[31] Also in 2004, Kilmer returned to the
theatre to play Moses in a Los Angeles musical production of
The Ten Commandments: The Musical, produced by BCBG founder
Max Azria.[32] The poorly received production played at the
Kodak Theater in Hollywood. Kilmer had previously played Moses
in the animated film The Prince of Egypt.
Kilmer was in negotiations with Richard Dutcher (a leading
director of Mormon-related films) to play the lead role in a
film entitled Prophet: The Story of Joseph Smith, although the
project never materialized. Kilmer performed in The Postman
Always Rings Twice on the London stage from June to September
of 2005. In 2005, he co-starred with
Robert Downey Jr. in the action-comedy film Kiss Kiss,
Bang Bang. His performance was praised and the film was well
reviewed, but the film received only a limited release. It
later won the award as "Overlooked Film of the Year" from the
Phoenix Film Critics Society. In 2006, he reunited with
director Tony Scott a third time for a supporting role
opposite Denzel Washington in the box-office hit Deja Vu. In
2007, he guest-starred in hit TV series Numb3rs episode "Trust
Metric" as torture expert Mason Lancer.
He will also star in the Lewis and Clark film opposite Bill
Pullman.
He was working on writing the movie about the life of Mary
Baker Eddy, the founder of the Christian Science church in
2005.
He is the voice of KITT for the
Knight Rider TV pilot movie which aired on February 17,
2008 on NBC.
He is set to appear as the main antagonist "Mongoose" in a
live TV series adaptation of the comic/video game of XIII in
2009.
Val
Kilmer official site
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