What is Val Kilmer’s net worth?
Val Kilmer is an American actor who has a net worth of $10 million. Kilmer is one of the most recognizable girls in the entertainment industry and has built an impressive reputation after earning a long list of film and TV credits. Some of the notable selling movies include “Top Gun,” “Batman Forever,” “The Doors,” “Tombstone,” and “Heat.”
Val Kilmer was one of the highest-paid actors in the world in the mid-1990s thanks to appearances in a series of big-budget blockbusters. Unfortunately, Val’s reputation for being difficult to work with has largely dried up his successful career and salaries. His finances were further destabilized by a divorce in 1996, at the absolute peak of his earnings and wealth. A diagnosis of throat cancer in 2015 further weakened his ability to act steadily and eventually completely eliminated his ability to speak.
Key facts
- He earned $7 million for 1995’s “Batman.”
- He earned 13 million dollars in 1997 from two films
- This made him one of the highest paid actors in the world
- He previously owned a 6,000-acre ranch in New Mexico
- He sold most of the farm in 2011 for $18.5 million
- He still owns 160 acres in New Mexico
Youth
Val Edward Kilmer was born on December 31, 1959 in Los Angeles. When Val was eight years old, his parents divorced, and when he was 19, his younger brother died. Deaths will continue in the family, as Val Kilmer’s father also died in 1993. After attending a Christian Science school until the 9th grade, Kilmer transferred to Chatsworth High School. One of his high school classmates was Kevin Spacey, and Kilmer would later follow in Spacey’s footsteps when he was accepted to the Juilliard School. At the time, Val Kilmer was the youngest person to ever be accepted into the famous acting school.
Career
Kilmer’s career began with his education at Juilliard, where he co-wrote and performed How It All Began, a play that debuted at the New York Shakespeare Festival. Theater became a focus for Kilmer at this early stage of his career and he even turned down major film roles to stay in the theater world. In 1983, he joined Kevin Bacon and Sean Penn in the off-Broadway production Slab Boys .
He continued to flex his writing muscles during this time and published a collection of his own poetry called My Eden After Burns . Today, this is one of the rarest and most sought-after books of poetry, and second-hand children’s books can fetch hundreds of dollars. At this point in his career, Kilmer rarely appeared in front of a camera, and his only roles outside of the theater were in commercials and in an educational video about drinking and driving.
Everything changed when he appeared in the action comedy Top Secret! , which effectively launched his film career. His next important film role came with the 1985 comedy Real Genius , in which he played the main role. Although he was a popular leading man at this stage of his career, his fame skyrocketed to a whole new level with the release of Top Gun since 1986. The film starred Kilmer alongside Tom Cruise and grossed over $345 million worldwide.
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Finding acting gigs was easy for Kilmer was easy after Top Gun and was able to choose roles in TV shows such as The Murders In Rue Morgue and in movies like Kill Me Again and Billy the Kid . He also returned to his theater roots with a role in Hamlet during the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.
For Val Kilmer, the 90s began with his portrayal of Jim Morrison in The Doors . He won widespread praise for his accuracy in portraying Morrisson’s character, particularly from former members of The Doors. Kilmer’s projects over the next few years included a variety of action films and True Romance , a film written by Quentin Tarantino. In particular, he gained notoriety for his performances in Tombstone and Heat .
Kilmer’s career continued to grow when he booked the role of Batman in Batman Forever . Although the film received mixed reviews, the box office numbers were astounding. Val Kilmer was singled out by Batman co-creator Bob Kane, who said that Kilmer provided the most faithful portrayal of the comic book superhero character.
In 1996, Kilmer joined the cast The Island of Dr. Moreau , an ill-fated film that became legendary in the film world for its turbulent production. He later appeared in a series of action films before playing a central role in The Saint , a film that showcased Kilmer’s impressive range and poetic ability. He ended the decade with roles in films such as Prince of Egypt , Joe the King and At first sight .
The 2000s didn’t start well for Kilmer, who starred in one of the biggest box office bombs of all time: Red Planet . He continued with a series of low-budget independent films that had a limited release. In the next few years, Kilmer appeared in films such as Spartan, Wonderland, The Missing, Mindhunters and Alexander . The last film barely broke even at the box office.
In 2006, Kilmer participated in the film Deja vu , a film that enjoyed extraordinary success at the box office. He spent the last part of the decade playing in police films such as Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans and Streets of Blood . The 2010s began for Kilmer with a series of roles in horror films such as The Traveler and Twixt . In 2017, he booked roles in Song to Song and The Snowman . In 2018, it was announced that Kilmer would reprise his iconic role from the 80s in a Top reboot Named gun Top Gun: Maverick .
Throughout his career, Val Kilmer has always maintained close ties with the theater. Of particular note was his one-man play from 2010, Citizen Twain . Kilmer has also starred in a wide range of television shows over the years, both as a guest star and in recurring roles. Notable examples include shows like Entourage , psyche and Knight Rider . For the latter show, Kilmer voiced the character of KITT, a self-aware AI installed in a car.
Personal life
Early in Val Kilmer’s career, he gained a reputation for being very popular with women. He also generated enthusiasm for dating women who were significantly older than him, including Cher and Ellen Barkin. Kilmer met his first wife, Joanne Whalley, on the set of Madmartigan in 1988. After having two children, the couple separated in 1996. Val Kilmer is a Christian Scientist and has been involved in many films with religious themes. .
Salary benchmarks
Val earned $7 million for 1995’s Batman Forever. That’s the same as about $12 million today. In 1997, he earned $7 million for The Saint and $6 million for The Island of Dr. Moreau, starring alongside his acting idol Marlon Brando. Cumulative earnings of $13 million made him one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood that year. Earning $13 million in 1997 is the same as earning about $20 million today. In 1999, Val earned $9 million for At First Sight, about $14 million in today’s dollars.
immobility
Val previously owned a 6,000 acre ranch in New Mexico that he at one point wanted to turn into a resort/farm/guest house. In 2009, he put the entire property up for sale for $33 million. In October 2011, he reached an agreement to sell approximately 5,300 acres to a billionaire oil couple for $18.5 million. Val Kilmer sold a couple of portions at a time in the following years. He still owns about 160 acres of the property.