Appreciating the many onscreen moods of Val Kilmer

Actor Val Kilmer died Tuesday at 65. His daughter told The Associated Press the cause was pneumonia. He had recovered from throat cancer.

More than a hundred roles in a nearly four-decade career let Val Kilmer explore a wealth of human experience. He gave life to characters from all walks of life – from superhero to alcoholic, thief to detective. Here are a few of the more intriguing moods he embodied along the way.

Cocky as Iceman in Top Gun (1986)

Top Gun was a testosterone fest in all its corners, from volleyball on the beach to dogfights in the stratosphere, but the reigning cock of the walk, and the one Tom Cruise had to contend with, was Kilmer’s Iceman – a cool customer, until he got hot under the collar.

Trippy as Jim Morrison in The Doors (1991)

Already rock-star handsome, Kilmer morphed into a sensual, psychedelics-inflected rock star on the set, singing his own vocals, and purring poetry to Meg Ryan.

Steely as Doc Holliday in Tombstone (1993)

Dapper, unflappable, deadly, Kilmer’s Doc Holliday was urbane in a world of Western ruffians, whether dropping Latin phrases in conversation, or dropping rival gunslingers in shootouts.

Wry as “Gay Perry” van Shrike in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

His gay detective drove Robert Downey Jr.’s struggling-actor-pretending-to-be-a-detective nuts, but audiences dug his relaxed, jokey take on the character. It would’ve made a bigger splash had the movie not opened the same year Brokeback Mountain did.

Distinguished as Iceman in Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

In his final film appearance, after suffering from throat cancer, Kilmer’s Iceman mostly communicated with Tom Cruise’s Maverick through words on a computer screen. But his elder statesman quality came through, and when he finally spoke – briefly – audiences were devastated.