Val Kilmer’s official cause of death revealed

The beloved Top Gun actor’s death certificate confirms the immediate cause of his death and new details on his funeral.

Val Kilmer’s cause of death has been revealed.

The beloved actor, who passed away on April 1 at the age of 65, died from pneumonia.

A death certificate issued by The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and obtained by TMZ cited pneumonia as the immediate cause, with other underlying medical conditions contributing to his passing.

The Top Gun star was living with squamous cell carcinoma at the base of his tongue and suffered from Hypoxemic respiratory failure and chronic respiratory failure, according to the document.

Val Kilmer attends the Simply Shakespeare's Live Read of "The Merchant Of Venice" at Walt Disney Concert Hall on October 28, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Picture: Getty/AFP

Acute hypoxemic respiratory failure is “a condition where you don’t have enough oxygen in the tissues in your body (hypoxia) or when you have too much carbon dioxide in your blood (hypercapnia),” according to The Cleveland Clinic.

Additional factors noted on the death certificate include malnutrition and a tracheocutaneous fistula.

Kilmer was cremated on April 7, the document also revealed.

The official ruling on the “Tombstone” star’s cause of death corroborated a previous statement made by his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer.

Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise in an iconic Top Gun scene. Picture: Paramount

The actress, 33, shared with the New York Times that her father passed away from pneumonia in Los Angeles on April 1.

Known for iconic roles in The Doors, Batman Forever, and Heat, Kilmer’s health declined significantly in the final years of his life.

The star was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015, but in 2021, he was declared he was cancer-free.

The cancer treatments took a toll on Kilmer’s body, however.

In addition to undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the Juilliard-trained actor had two tracheotomies to create an artificial hole in his neck to help him breathe.

Val Kilmer, left, gets a kiss from fellow "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" cast member Robert Downey Jr.in 2005. Picture: AP

The surgeries permanently damaged his vocal cords and left him barely able to speak.

“I can’t speak without plugging this hole,” he said in his 2021 documentary Val, produced by Mercedes and his son Jack Kilmer, 29.

“You have to make the choice to breathe or to eat,” Kilmer added, referring to a feeding tube.

“It’s an obstacle that is very present with whoever sees me. I’m still recovering, and it is difficult to talk and to be understood. But I want to tell my story more than ever.”

In his final film performance, reprising his role as Iceman in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick, AI technology was used to revive his voice.

Val Kilmer in Los Angeles on December 16, 1998. Picture: AP

Kilmer was also bed-bound “for years before his death,” sources close to Kilmer’s family told TMZ.

The actor’s body “simply couldn’t keep fighting at the end,” they said, adding, “his body eventually shut down.”

He was “very frail at the end of his life” and his death was not sudden, the family sources also shared.

The star was reportedly hospitalised earlier this year and, in the week before his death, was admitted to a Los Angeles area hospital, where friends and family visited him.

This story originally appeared in The New York Post.

Originally published as Val Kilmer’s official cause of death revealed