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In 1984's "Top Secret!," Val Kilmer played crooner Nick Rivers, who became embroiled in an espionage plot in East Germany. Val Kilmer got pranked on the set of " Top Secret!" The New York Times said that Kilmer was "bursting with ominous energy."Ĥ. As high school boozehound Eric, Kilmer made an impression. ABC actually aired the episode in primetime to reach a wider audience because they felt the topic was important enough to warrant more viewers. Kilmer appeared with Michelle Pfeiffer in "One Too Many," which was about underage drinking.
#Gladys kilmer series#
Kilmer got a chance to display his dramatic chops early in a 1985 episode of the " ABC Afterschool Special," a daytime series that focused on hard-hitting social issues affecting teens of the day. Val Kilmer did an " ABC Afterschool Special" that didn't air after school. "Well, of course I minded, but of course I caved," he wrote of being billed behind Bacon and Penn.ģ. Kilmer said taking the third lead role was not his preference, but the opportunity for Broadway was too great to pass up. In order to do the play, Kilmer said in his 2020 book, "I'm Your Huckleberry: A Memoir," that he turned down a part in director Francis Ford Coppola's 1983 film " The Outsiders," based on the 1967 S.E. He joined the production of the coming-of-age drama Slab Boys alongside Kevin Bacon and Sean Penn. Val Kilmer turned down " The Outsiders" to do Broadway.Īfter graduating from Juilliard, Kilmer turned to the New York stage. In 2020, Kilmer told The New York Times that the vocal exercises he was told to do there helped him communicate when his throat cancer began affecting his speech.Ģ. The Juilliard training resonated throughout his life.
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(In 2003, actor Seth Numrich supplanted him when he was accepted by Juilliard at age 16.) At 17, he was the youngest student to be accepted into the drama division at the time.
#Gladys kilmer professional#
After attending the Hollywood Professional School, Kilmer enrolled in the prestigious Juilliard School. Val Kilmer was the youngest person to ever be accepted into the Juilliard School's drama division.īorn Decemin Los Angeles, California, to Eugene Kilmer and Gladys Swanette Ekstadt, Kilmer's grade school stage work developed his appetite for acting-something he was almost preternaturally good at. (The documentary is narrated by his son.)įor more on Kilmer, including his aversion to " Top Gun" and his strange connection to David Hasselhoff, keep reading.ġ. It's a rare chance to see the sprawl of a respected actor's career before throat cancer complications forced him to devise workarounds. In " Val," premiering on Amazon Prime on August 6, Kilmer takes audiences through the more than 40 years of footage he has shot over the course of his personal and professional life. He's been Batman, Doc Holliday, and a real genius in 1985's " Real Genius," but Val Kilmer's most evocative onscreen portrait might be the one he's made of himself. This story originally appeared on Mental Floss.
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