Val Kilmer was one of the most popular Hollywood stars of the 1980s and 1990s, with his most notable role portraying the iconic character Batman in “Batman Forever.”
Kilmer also saw success in the popular 1980s film “Real Genius” as well as “Top Gun.” In recent years, Kilmer appeared alongside Denzel Washington in the 2006 film “Deja Vu.”
Despite all of his success, Kilmer recently revealed some personal hardship, announcing that he recently was diagnosed with cancer, revealing he “did have a healing of cancer.”
Val Kilmer confirms cancer rumors, says he’s in “healing” stages https://t.co/M5RL62YdU8 pic.twitter.com/UYL9DdbYfJ
— Variety (@Variety) April 30, 2017
From CNN:
The actor made the admission during a recent Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) session. In October, Kilmer’s “The Ghost and the Darkness” costar Michael Douglas raised concerns about Kilmer’s health during a London event.
Douglas said at the time that Kilmer was “dealing with exactly what I had,” referring to oral cancer, and added that things didn’t look too good for Kilmer.
Kilmer denied it and later posted on his official Facebook page that “Michael Douglas wrote me a nice note apologizing for suggesting to the press overseas, I ‘wasn’t doing too well … and was grateful to hear I am doing well.”
In the Facebook post in November of 2016, Kilmer called Douglas “misinformed” but perhaps Kilmer didn’t want to reveal his true health status until he was on the mend.
During the Reddit AMA event, Kilmer was asked by a fan about Michael Douglas incorrectly stating that Kilmer had terminal cancer.
Kilmer responded:
He was probably trying to help me cause press probably asked where I was these days, and I did have a healing of cancer. But my tongue is still swollen altho [sic] healing all the time. Because I don’t sound my normal self yet people think I may still be under the weather.
According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, individuals with oral cancer that has not spread have a survival rate of 83% and a survival rate of 62% if the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes.
Our thoughts go out to Kilmer and hope he has a speedy recovery!