Born in Los Angeles, California, and raised in the San Fernando Valley, Kilmer is one of three sons born to Gladys and Eugene Kilmer, the others being older brother Mark and younger brother Wesley. When Val was 17 and just about to start study as the youngest student ever admitted to the Juillard School of Fine Arts in New York, Wesley tragically drowned in the family's own swimming pool. Recently, Kilmer and director D. J. Carus explored the theme of loss together in their film release The Salton Sea. Caruso also lost a brother in a tragic accident.
Kilmer's ex-wife is Joanne Whalley-Kilmer. The two met while working together on Willow. They have two children, daughter Mercedes and son Jack. It was during the Kilmers' divorce proceedings that rumours of Kilmer's "difficulty" began to surface in the media. For example, Ron Howard (Willow) and other directors have spoken out that they considered him hard to work with, though many others who have worked with him consider him a gifted, dedicated artist whom they would be happy to work with again. Many comment on his great enthusiasm, high intelligence, and dedication to both the roles he plays and the projects he is involved with in general, although the adjective "eccentric" continues to surface in descriptions of the actor.
Kilmer's professional film, television, and theatre credits are as follows (unless otherwise noted, these are theatrically-released films):
Kilmer's Official website: " class="external">http://www.valkilmer.org/ The Val Kilmer Newsletter: " class="external">http://www.vkn.com/ The Internet Movie Database: Val Kilmer: http://us.imdb.com/Name?Kilmer,+Val