re: Val Kilmer has passed away at 65

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1996's The Island of Dr. Moreau is one of the most infamously troubled productions in Hollywood history, and legendary filmmaker John Frankenheimer was hired last-minute after original director Richard Stanley was fired for failing to keep the production on track.

The director's primary motivation for signing on - aside from money, of course - was to work with Marlon Brando, though in order to do so, he had to suffer through a continually tense working relationship with the notoriously difficult Val Kilmer.

Kilmer, who had just learned that his wife had filed for divorce, was a routinely volatile presence during the six-month shoot, to the extent that Frankenheimer famously told him, "Your problem is you confuse the size of your paycheck with the size of your talent."

Furthermore, when Kilmer wrapped shooting, the director reportedly implored his crew, "Now get that bastard off my set", and vowed never to be associated with the actor again. We sure hope Brando was worth it, John.

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Hollywood actor Val Kilmer, known for his roles in some of the biggest movies of the 1980s and 90s, including Top Gun and Batman Forever, has died aged 65. He also starred in 1991's The Doors - playing the legendary band's frontman Jim Morrison - plus the Western Tombstone and crime drama Heat. Kilmer died of pneumonia on Tuesday in Los Angeles, his daughter Mercedes told US media. She said her father had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 but later recovered. Tracheotomy surgery affected his voice and curtailed his acting career, but he returned to the screen to reprise his role as fighter pilot Iceman alongside Tom Cruise in 2022's Top Gun: Maverick.

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Born Val Edward Kilmer on 31 December 1959, Kilmer grew up in a middle-class family in Los Angeles. His parents were Christian Scientists, a movement to which Kilmer would adhere for the rest of his life. Aged 17, he became the then-youngest pupil to enrol at the Julliard School, in New York, one of the world's most prestigious drama conservatories.

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Need to go watch Heat again for the 30th time.

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He put in a lot of work on The Doors movie... He did all the singing and even the original The Doors members were fooled... Great actor RIP...

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