Val Kilmer spent his last years confined to his bed as a result of ailing health, according to the latest heartbreaking details on his death at age 65.
As reported by TMZ, Kilmer's body never fully recovered from his treatment for throat cancer, which left him stuck in bed for "years" long before his Tuesday death from pneumonia.
While the cancer went away, Kilmer's body eventually "shut down," the report said, noting his health "seriously declined" in the last week of his life.
A video shared on Kilmer's Instagram in February was actually filmed years ago, the outlet noted. The clip shows Kilmer, the star of Batman Forever, wearing a Batman mask.
Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment that he would later say caused more suffering than the disease itself.
The actor all but lost the use of his voice after a tracheotomy - a procedure that creates an opening in the neck for breathing.
“I can’t speak without plugging this hole,” he said in his 2021 documentary Val, produced by his kids Mercedes and Jack. “You have to make the choice to breathe or to eat,” Kilmer, who used a feeding tube, added. “It’s an obstacle that is very present with whoever sees me.”
He continued, “I’m still recovering, and it is difficult to talk and to be understood. But I want to tell my story more than ever.”
The actor was celebrated for his range, first becoming known as Tom Hanks' rival Iceman in the original Top Gun. Kilmer went on to win critical acclaim as Jim Morrison in The Doors and Doc Holliday in the Western movie Tombstone.
Kilmer reprised his Top Gun role with a short cameo appearance in 2022's Top Gun: Maverick. It proved to be his last movie.
Considered by many an underrated actor, Kilmer was never nominated for an Oscar or Emmy. The handsome, charismatic star dated glamorous women like Cindy Crawford and Cher.
"Once Cher works her way inside your head and heart, she never leaves. For her true friends, her steadfast love and loyalty never die," Kilmer wrote in his memoir, I'm Your Huckleberry.
Kilmer's death led to an outpouring of tributes from friends and colleagues in the movie industry.
"See ya, pal. I'm going to miss you," his friend, actor Josh Brolin, wrote. "You were a smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker. There's not a lot left of those. I hope to see you up there in the heavens when I eventually get there. Until then, amazing memories, lovely thoughts."
Kilmer is survived by his two children, Mercedes and Jack, from his marriage to ex-wife Joanne Whalley.
