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.

“See ya, pal. I’m going to miss you,” American actor Josh Brolin wrote alongside a picture of himself and Kilmer on Instagram.

“You were a smart, challenging, brave, über-creative firecracker. There’s not a lot left of those,” he added.

In 2021, Kilmer released a documentary chronicling the highs and lows of his life and career. Val, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, features 40 years of home recordings, including him speaking with a voice box post-cancer surgery.

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 faith Kilmer followed throughout his life.

Aged 17, he became the then-youngest pupil to enrol at the Juilliard School, in New York, one of the world’s most prestigious drama conservatories.

He made his name in the comedies Top Secret! in 1984 and Real Genius the following year, before cementing his acting credentials as Iceman, the nemesis to Cruise’s character Maverick in 1986’s Top Gun, one of the decade’s defining movies.

Kilmer went on to star in fantasy Willow and crime thriller Kill Me Again – both alongside British actress Joanne Whalley, who he married in 1988. The couple had two children, including Mercedes Kilmer.

He further proved his dynamic and versatile talents when he convincingly portrayed rock frontman Morrison in The Doors, 20 years after the singer’s death.

Tombstone, in which he played gunfighter Doc Holliday, and Heat, in which he appeared alongside Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, were also hits.

He took over Batman’s cape from Michael Keaton for Batman Forever in 1995, which achieved box office success but mixed reviews, and Kilmer pulled out of the next Batman movie.

He took on the role made famous by Roger Moore in the 1997 film remake of TV series The Saint and starred with Marlon Brando in The Island of Dr Moreau.

That film became one of Hollywood’s most notorious flops, and its director John Frankenheimer declared he would never work again with Kilmer – who gained a reputation for being difficult on set.

Adam West, the US actor best known as the star of the 1960s hit TV series Batman, has died aged 88.

West died peacefully in Los Angeles after a “short but brave battle” with leukaemia, a family spokesperson said.

His tongue-in-cheek portrayal of Batman and the superhero’s alter ego Bruce Wayne won a cult following.

He later struggled to find big acting roles, but won a new generation of fans in more recent times after joining the cast of Family Guy.

First appearing in season two in 2002, he voiced Quahog’s eccentric Mayor Adam West, described by series creator Seth MacFarlane as an “alternate universe”, satirised version of the actor.

MacFarlane paid tribute to the star on Twitter, saying he had “lost a friend” and described West as “irreplaceable”.

West’s family said in a statement: “Our dad always saw himself as The Bright Knight, and aspired to make a positive impact on his fans’ lives. He was and always will be our hero.”

The Batman TV series, with its onscreen fight-scene graphics of Wham! and Pow! became an unexpected hit. West and his co-star Burt Ward, who played Batman’s sidekick Robin, won widespread acclaim for their kitsch portrayal of the Dynamic Duo.

Actor Julie Newmar, who played Catwoman in the series, paid tribute to West on Saturday, saying he was was “bright, witty and fun to work with”.

“I will miss him in the physical world and savour him always in the world of imagination and creativity,” she said.

In a 2010 interview with the website Slice of SciFi, West said the TV series had benefitted from very good writers.

“They saw the craziness, the comedy. You know, just as he’s about to put her in (jail), Batman says to Catwoman, ‘You give me curious stirrings in my utility belt.’ That’s funny stuff.”

When the series ended, West struggled to break free from the character, but over a long career appeared in nearly 50 films including Drop Dead Gorgeous, An American Vampire Story and Nevada Smith.