biggest movies of the 1980s and 90s, including Top Gun and Batman Forever. Coppola described Kilmer as "a wonderful person to work with and a joy to know", while Howard praised his "awesome range as an actor". Singer Cher, a former girlfriend of Kilmer's, summed him up as "funny, crazy, pain in the ass, GREAT FRIEND" and "brave" during his illness.

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. Kilmer's other film credits included 1991's The Doors - playing the legendary band's frontman Jim Morrison - plus the Western Tombstone and crime drama Heat. Paying tribute on Instagram, Heat director Mann said: "While working with Val I always marvelled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val's possessing and expressing character.

"After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news," he said. Coppola, who directed Kilmer in 2011's Twixt, said in a statement: "Val Kilmer was the most talented actor when in his High School, and that talent only grew greater throughout his life. "He was a wonderful person to work with and a joy to know - I will always remember him." Howard, who made 1988's Willow, remembered Kilmer's "amazing" filmography and praised his "awesome range as an actor". "His art extended to his poetry, artworks, filmmaking and simply the way he lived," he wrote. "Bon Voyage, Val and thank you."

Film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that his role in The Doors summed up his appeal and persona. "There was something sort of dark and troubling and sensual and kind of self-destructive about him," she said. "It was a quality that meant he was never just the bland Hollywood pretty boy that led so many roles. There was something else going on underneath the surface." (BBC/Getty Images)