Val Kilmer, star of 'Top Gun' and 'The Doors', dies at 65, NYT reports

PEOPLE-VAL-KILMER:Val Kilmer, star of 'Top Gun' and 'The Doors', dies at 65, NYT reports

By Will Dunham

- Val Kilmer, who starred in films such as "Top Gun," "The Doors," and "Batman Forever" while earning a reputation as a Hollywood bad boy for his intensity and temperament, has died, the New York Times reported. He was 65.

The cause of death was pneumonia, the paper said, citing his daughter Mercedes Kilmer. The actor had lived with poor health for years due to throat cancer.

The California-born, Juilliard-trained actor was one of Hollywood's most prominent leading men in the 1990s, having made his film debut in the 1984 spy spoof "Top Secret!" which won him legions of fans. He rocketed to fame as Tom Cruise's rival in the smash 1986 hit "Top Gun", playing naval aviator Tom "Iceman" Kazansky.