This post will be a little different.

I will be talking about a book, but I will be talking about a lot of things here.

But mainly, all of this is a tribute to an actor I’ve admired since I was a kid.

That actor is Val Kilmer.

He’s known for such movies as Top Secret, Real Genius, Top Gun, Willow, The Doors, Tombstone, Batman Forever, The Saint, just to name a few.

But beyond that, Val Kilmer was a true artist in pretty much all walks of his life.

He started making home movies when he was a kid (many clips show up in his amazing documentary “Val” on Amazon Prime), he wrote poetry, he painted, and yes he was an actor.

He was what is called a method actor, in which he really got into his roles more than others did.

That rubbed some people the wrong way, but that was his method.

And it worked.

Look at his body of work.

He played Madmartigan in Willow, one of my favorite movies as a kid, and he’s one of the big reasons why I loved it so much then and now.

He played Doc Holliday in Tombstone (he should’ve won an Oscar for this).  Maybe his most famous role and deservedly so.  PHENOMENAL.

He played Jim Morrison in The Doors, and did it perfectly, as far as I’m concerned.  You don’t have to be a fan of The Doors to appreciate his performance in the movie because it is stunning.

He played Batman/Bruce Wayne in Batman Forever, which I love.  I know some don’t like it, but many do.  He did a great job.

He played Simon Templar in the movie The Saint.  Based on a series of books and a TV show, this is one of my favorite Val roles.

So much so that when I met him in 2019, I had him sign a picture of himself as The Saint.

But hey I’m getting ahead of myself.

He did some really funny movies in the 1980s, like Top Secret and Real Genius.  Seek these out please.  You’ll laugh a lot trust me.

He was Iceman in the iconic movie Top Gun.  He even reprised the role briefly in Top Gun:  Maverick many years later.

He starred in Heat w/Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and a string of all-stars and carried his weight extremely well in one of my favorite longer movies.

He starred in some underrated movies in my opinion. 

Movies such as Thunderheart, The Ghost And The Darkness (w/Michael Douglas), At First Sight, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (w/Robert Downey Jr., another HILARIOUS movie), Wonderland, Deja Vu (w/Denzel Washington), The Island Of Dr. Moreau (w/Marlon Brando), Red Planet, and The Prince Of Egypt (playing the voice of God and Moses), just to name a few.

He also did a lot of movies that maybe you’ve not seen or heard of.  Movies such as Blind Horizon, Conspiracy, Columbus Day, Spartan, The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains, The Salton Sea, The Traveler, Twixt, Felon, The Chaos Experiment, Pay Dirt, and The Super.  All of which are worth seeing.

He did a lot!!  He truly is a movie icon.

He even wrote his autobiography, called “I’m Your Huckleberry”, which is why I put this in my Book Reviews section.

Val chronicles his life throughout the book.  Talking about growing up (actually living on property that had been owned by actor Roy Rogers), being the youngest student enrolled in Julliard at the time, many of his movies, people he worked with, his relationships, being a Dad (he has two kids, Jack and Mercedes), overcoming throat cancer, and more.

My only complaint with his book is that I wanted even more stories about his work.  But that’s OK.  I still really enjoyed it and it’s very easy to read.

I said earlier that this post is different because I found out when I woke up this morning (April 2 of 2025 when I’m typing this) that Val passed away the day before (April Fools Day of all days) of pneumonia at the age of 65.

I’m not crying, but this is a big loss.

Not only because I love his work. 

Not only because I did get to meet him at Lexington Comic And Toy Convention in 2019 (more on that here). 

But especially because as I said in the title of this post, that Val Kilmer is the one that brought my girlfriend and partner in life and this website, Mariah Startzman, together.

This may sound weird, but I was on Twitter one day early on in the 2020 pandemic just browsing around when I saw this post by a Mariah Rose talking about Val Kilmer.  

Curious, I responded to her about him and we started chatting about our admiration for Val’s work.

And for the most part, we’ve been inseparable ever since.

Obviously we found other things in common and to talk about and love, but it really all started with our love for Val Kilmer and his work.

I’m sorry if that sounds weird, but that’s our story and I am grateful for it.

I’m sorry that he is gone, but his body of work will live on for us to enjoy and for more people to discover and enjoy.

Thank you Val for everything. 

You were a positive light in a very dark world and brought happiness to many, including myself and Mariah.  We literally have you to thank for initially bringing us together.

We love you very much and we will forever thank you.