Days after the death of Hollywood actor Val Klimer, his family has spoken out in a statement about their loss.
“Thank you for honoring our extraordinary father’s memory,” his family said in a statement to People on Thursday, April 3. “We are so proud of him and honored to see his legacy celebrated. At this time, we would like to grieve privately.”
Val’s daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, confirmed her father’s death at age 65 to The New York Times on Tuesday, April 1. She said his cause of death was pneumonia.
Along with Mercedes, 33, the Top Gun actor was a dad to son Jack Kilmer, 28, whom he shared with ex-wife Joanne Whalley, to whom he was married from 1988 to 1996.
Along with the statement from his family, Val was honored by his Top Gun costar Tom Cruise at CinemaCon 2025 in Las Vegas on Thursday. Tom, 62, was at the event to tease his upcoming film, Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, but paused to take a moment to honor Val’s memory.
“I’d like to take a moment before we get started today to honor a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer,” Tom said to the audience at the event. “I can’t tell you how much I admired his work and him as a human being, how grateful and honored I was that he joined Top Gun and came back for Top Gun: Maverick.”
The action star then said, “It would be really nice if we could just have a moment all together and just take a moment because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us with his performances with his films. If we could just all take a moment and just think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.”
After the moment of silence, Tom thanked the audience for honoring his late costar.
“Thank you, Val,” he said. “I wish you well on your next journey. Thank you all for doing that. I know he appreciates it.”
Other Hollywood stars spoke out after Val’s death was announced on Tuesday.
“I always liked Val and am sad to hear of his passing. I thought he was a genius actor. I enjoyed working with him on Bad Lieutenant and I admired his commitment and sense of humor. He should have won the Oscar for The Doors,” Nicolas Cage said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
“I’m remembering Val Kilmer today with great admiration for him as a man and as a generational talent who left us an enviable legacy of indelible acting performances. His greatest artistic achievements were rivaled only by the grace and courage with which he endured his life’s most challenging moments. Wishing his family so much love,” Jim Carrey said in a statement to the outlet.
“Val Kilmer was the most talented actor when in his High School, and that talent only grew greater throughout his life. He was a wonderful person to work with and a joy to know — I will always remember him,” Francis Ford Coppola said in a post on Instagram.