Latest news with #I'mYourHuckleberry
Calgary Herald
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
Shades of kindness: Rangeland Derby Rockstar Chanse Vigen's pink sunglasses raise money for families in need
Article content The Rangeland Derby has its own version of the Pink Pony Club. Article content Pink sunglasses are taking over the chuckwagon world — and for a very good cause. Article content The I'm Your Huckleberry campaign, launched by Chanse and Brie Vigen, is a grassroots charity that supports families facing difficult times. Article content Article content Article content 'That winter, I thought — this is a great opportunity to create a non-profit,' Brie recalled. 'I didn't know exactly how at first, but I knew we could sell the sunglasses and raise money for something good.' Article content The couple from Grande Prairie, Alta., quickly got to work — and didn't have to look far for a name. Article content 'When we started dating, Chanse would always say, 'I'm your Huckleberry,'' Brie said. 'It meant, 'I'm your man. I got you.' So, I thought, what a perfect name for the grant: I'm Your Huckleberry — we got you, when you don't have anybody else there to support you.' Article content Article content And just like that, the I'm Your Huckleberry charity was born. Article content The campaign launched last year, and while it took some time to catch on, the chuckwagon community quickly rallied once they realized what it was all about. Article content 'It's been amazing,' Brie said. 'At first, I think people didn't fully understand what we were doing. Some thought we were just selling merch. But then, on Thanksgiving, we knocked on doors and delivered support directly to families — and when people saw that, everything changed.' Article content So far, the charity has helped two families and plans to support two more this year — with hopes of expanding even further.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Val Kilmer died of pneumonia, death certificate confirms
April 11 (UPI) -- Batman Forever actor Val Kilmer died of pneumonia, his death certificate has confirmed. Known for his roles in such films as Top Gun, Kilmer died April 1 and was cremated April 7. He was 65. The death certificate issued by the Los Angeles County Department of Health confirms what Kilmer's daughter Mercedes previously told the New York Times about the actor's death. The certificate also lists additional causes -- acute hypoxemic respiratory failure, chronic respiratory failure, squamous cell carcinoma. Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, and addressed his health issues in his 2020 memoir, I'm Your Huckleberry. "It was very hard to embrace my original diagnosis," he wrote in the book. "It was surreal. I didn't believe I was decomposing, and I wasn't ready to die."
USA Today
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Val Kilmer wrote candidly about life, love and 'Top Gun': Revisit his memoir
Val Kilmer wrote candidly about life, love and 'Top Gun': Revisit his memoir Show Caption Hide Caption Val Kilmer, 'Top Gun,' 'Batman Forever' star, dies at 65 Val Kilmer portrayed larger-than-life characters, such as Jim Morrison, Doc Holliday and Batman, throughout his prolific acting career. Editor's note: In 2020, USA TODAY editor Barbara VanDenburgh reported on the emotional and striking revelations from Val Kilmer's memoir. Kilmer, then 60, had recently starred in the sequel to "Top Gun," the 1986 film that helped make him a household name. In "Top Gun: Maverick," released two years after his memoir published and his final film role, Kilmer returned to the screen as Tom "Iceman" Kazansky. Upon news of Kilmer's death, we are republishing the story. The long-awaited sequel "Top Gun: Maverick" is full of high-octane action and fist-pumping callbacks to the original 1986 film. But no moment is more moving than Pete "Maverick" Mitchell's (Tom Cruise) emotional reunion with Tom "Iceman" Kazansky (Val Kilmer). Kilmer battled throat cancer in the 2010s that required a tracheotomy which still greatly impacts his speaking voice. That didn't hinder Kilmer from delivering the film's most emotional performance. "I was very moved the first time I saw it. Almost 40 years is a long time for a reunion," Kilmer tells USA TODAY over e-mail of the scene. Kilmer wrote about how he came to reprise his "Top Gun" role in his memoir "I'm Your Huckleberry," released in April 2020, revealing that he "begged" for his part. Here are some of the book's most interesting revelations: Val Kilmer, 'Top Gun,' 'Batman Forever' star, dies at 65 Kilmer begged to be in the 'Top Gun' sequel "I didn't want the part. I didn't care about the film. The story didn't interest me." That's Kilmer talking about, of all movies, "Top Gun." At first he had wanted no part of the 1986 film that was destined to make him a megastar. When he was pressured by his agent to audition for it, he pouted. "I showed up looking the fool, or the goon. I wore oversize gonky Australian shorts in nausea green. I read the lines indifferently. And yet, amazingly, I was told I had the part. I felt more deflated than inflated." Decades later, when the sequel starring Tom Cruise was announced, the tables were turned; Kilmer initially wasn't tapped to reprise his role as Iceman in "Top Gun: Maverick." But, Kilmer writes, "as the Temptations sang in the heyday of Motown soul, 'ain't too proud to beg.'" And his begging worked. "The producers went for it. Cruise went for it. Cruise couldn't have been cooler. … Tom and I took up where we left off. The reunion felt great." Daryl Hannah is his biggest romantic regret Kilmer writes rapturously of his romances – and there were many. He was "hopelessly in love" with Carly Simon. He shared a romance that was "as whimsical as it was whirlwind" with Ellen Barkin. He fell hard for Cindy Crawford ("I thought I could have died from her love, not because it was difficult but because its delight was simply too much to bear"). He was besotted with Angelina Jolie. ("When people ask me what Angelina Jolie is like, I always say she's like other women and other superstars, but just more. More gorgeous. More wise. More tragic. More magic.") But two women in particular stand out: Cher and Hannah. Cher was one of Kilmer's formative romances. They met when he was 21 and she was in her mid-30s, after a mutual friend told him she wanted to meet him. Kilmer was not enthused by the prospect. "I saw Cher as a less-than-fascinating character out of the gossip rags. I was not motivated to meet her, not out of snobbery but simply because I was sure we had nothing in common." Val Kilmer tributes: Celebrities remember 'icon' 'Top Gun' actor He was wrong. "Cher was funny, hysterically funny. I ended up driving her home on the back of my Harley through the streets of Manhattan. She loved the Harley. We both loved laughing and went on doing so for well over a year." They've remained friends ever since, and Kilmer writes about how their friendship has deepened, calling Cher the "funniest woman I ever met." But his most crushing romance was with Hannah when they briefly dated in 2001. "I knew I would love her with my whole heart forever. That love – invisible, ephemeral, and infinite – has lost none of its strength," Kilmer writes. When they broke up, he cried every day for half a year. 'Straight from the heart': Val Kilmer on the Tom Cruise 'Top Gun: Maverick' reunion, that final hug "It was no great surprise that she wound up marrying Neil Young. It was a matter of one giant attracting another," Kilmer writes. Hannah began a relationship with the musician in 2014; they were married in 2018. "Neil Young, I always loved you, but I'm afraid I hate you now." Cher helped Kilmer through his cancer When Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015, Cher was by his side. Kilmer was staying in Cher's guesthouse when his cancer scare suddenly turned into a cancer emergency. He had already discovered the lump in his throat and had difficulty breathing. Then, Kilmer writes, "Suddenly I awoke vomiting blood that covered the bed like a scene out of 'The Godfather.'" They called an ambulance as "blood dripped down my body, my vision blurred, my energy drained." Cher got him into the ambulance, and Kilmer woke up in a hospital in Santa Monica, California, where he got a tracheotomy. Later, after Cher made a few calls and got him transferred to UCLA, he would undergo chemotherapy and radiation. Kilmer says the cancer is gone, but its scars linger. "When I speak now, I sound like Marlon Brando after a couple of bottles of tequila. It isn't a frog in my throat. More like a buffalo," he writes. "Speaking, once my joy and lifeblood, has become an hourly struggle. The instrument over which I had complete mastery is now out of my control." Kilmer says he was visited by an angel Kilmer is a devout Christian Scientist, a faith passed down to him by his parents. He invokes his faith throughout the memoir, especially during his battle with cancer. He attributes his healing to God and not to the medical treatments he received. "I went along with the program, mainly to reassure my children I was doing everything 'humanly' possible to be healthy," he writes. "They had been constantly taught by others in their lives to be wary of Christian Science, and although they had each had several extraordinary healings in my opinion, I respected their skepticism and did not wish to increase their fear in any way." In the book's most striking passage, Kilmer says he was visited by an angel. On a trip to New Mexico when he was 24, Kilmer awoke to an 'amorphous black figure.' He writes, 'It will ruin the absolute gravity of this moment but in truth this dark angel looked very like Darth Vader, though without the helmet.' Kilmer says the angel reached into his body and extracted his heart to replace it with a bigger one. "At first I thought it was the Angel of Death before realizing it was the Angel of Life. I wish I could elucidate the experience more than I have already done, but I can't. It simply happened," Kilmer writes. "I have nothing else to say about this, except that I am grateful for the new heart. It has served me well. And I've only just begun to use it."
Telegraph
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Tom Cruise holds moment's silence for Top Gun co-star Val Kilmer
Tom Cruise led a moment's silence at an event in Las Vegas for his 'dear friend' and Top Gun co-star Val Kilmer following his death aged 65. Speaking at the CinemaCon film event in The Colosseum theatre, Cruise paid tribute to Kilmer, wishing him 'well on the next journey'. Kilmer rose to fame starring alongside Cruise in the 1986 hit Top Gun, playing Iceman, a rival pilot to Cruise's character Maverick, and his final acting role was a cameo in the 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick. Variety reported that Cruise spoke from a stage at Caesars Palace and said: 'I'd like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can't tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick. 'I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him. 'I wish you well on the next journey.' Kilmer's daughter, Mercedes, told the New York Times on Wednesday that the actor had died from pneumonia aged 65. He had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, discussing it and his recovery in his 2020 memoir 'I'm Your Huckleberry' and Amazon Prime documentary Val. He had radiotherapy and chemotherapy, as well as a tracheostomy, which damaged his vocal cords. Kilmer was also known for playing Batman in the 1995 Batman Forever and starred in a number of westerns including 1989 film Billy The Kid and Thunderheart in 1992. The moment of silence followed tributes from Hollywood figures including Cher, Francis Ford Coppola, Antonio Banderas and Michelle Monaghan. Kilmer married British actress Joanne Whalley in 1988, who he met working on the fantasy film Willow ten years earlier. The couple had two children before divorcing in 1996.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Val Kilmer's list of A-list lovers was as impressive as his film credits – but here's why he was single when he died
Val Kilmer was a Hollywood star in the classic mold, known for his big movies — 'Top Gun,' 'Tombstone' and 'Batman Forever' — as well as his love affairs. Some succeeded, some failed, but they were never dull. The square-jawed heartthrob — whose family announced he died of pneumonia Tuesday, following an 11-year battle with throat cancer — romanced Cindy Crawford, Angelina Jolie, Ellen Barkin and, most notably, Cher. During the eccentric star's heyday in the '80s and early '90s, he was a Tinseltown chick magnet of the highest order, drawing the smartest, coolest and most beautiful of Hollywood. Director Brett Ratner says Kilmer's personality as much as his leading-man looks made him alluring to filmmakers as well as the opposite sex. 'He wasn't a normal guy. His charm, on the screen and off, was amazing. And the devotion to his craft was 200%,' Ratner told The Post. 'He was charming, funny and talented.' Los Angeles-born Kilmer's sparkling combination did the trick for Cher, his first big-time girlfriend. He was 21 and had just finished at the Juilliard acting school in New York, she was in her mid-30s when they connected at a birthday party. In his autobiography, 'I'm Your Huckleberry,' Kilmer talks about the singer whisking him off to a top-story suite at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas during their whirlwind romance. 'I was smitten (and flattered and aroused and exhilarated) to be with so glamorous a star … Maybe the decision to leave New York and go to Hollywood with Cher was easy,' he wrote. For her part, Cher talked about being 'madly in love' with Kilmer and recalled how they enjoyed 'fabulous sex,' on 'The Howard Stern Show' last November. However, she told People magazine they were each 'alpha males,' and 'both individuals … neither of us was going to give up on that.' She said the footloose ladies' man was one of the very few who ever left her. 'Sometimes you're only meant to stay with someone so long … And Val was really young,' Cher has lamented. However, they remained friends and she nursed him after he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014. Kilmer's next Hollywood conquest, 'Sea of Love' actress Ellen Barkin, beckoned as his career started to blow up. In 1986, he co-starred in 'Top Gun' alongside Tom Cruise and was clearly a star on the rise. Their relationship was Hollywood chill — Kilmer described him and Barkin spending their time together 'window-shopping on Rodeo Drive and barbecuing at night.' His favorite features of the Bronx-born actress with the husky voice? Her hair and her stare. 'If you ever have a chance to consensually ever-so-gently touch Ellen's hair, it will be worth the look she's gonna drop on you,' he said. But again, things fell apart, with Kilmer blaming his 'unmanageable preoccupations' and 'neglect' for the relationship ending. This is little surprise considering Kilmer's all-immersive approach to acting. When he auditioned for his first big flick, 'Top Secret!,' he dressed up as Elvis Presley for the audition — a role he'd finally get to perform in scenes for 'True Romance' in 1993. One of Kilmer's most iconic and lauded performances came playing another rocker, Jim Morrison, in the 1991 rock 'n' roll biopic 'The Doors.' To prepare for the lead role of the hell-raising, hard-drinking Morrison — known as The Lizard King — Kilmer learned to sing 50 Doors songs and recorded them in LA studios. He then brought the tapes to various members of The Doors to see if they could tell the difference between him and Morrison. Some members could not, according to Kilmer. His method approach was not relegated only to singing. 'It's fun to jump on people and get paid for it — which [Morrison] did,' Kilmer told David Letterman during a 1992 appearance on 'Late Night.' Later, he called the role the toughest he ever took on, writing, 'Jim was suicidal and when you spend over a year rehearsing inside someone's skin who is so deeply unhappy … it's tough. Also he just picked the wrong toolbox to make his creations. Booze is a classic dead end. But the poetry was glorious,' in a 2017 Reddit Ask Me Anything. However, at the time of filming, Kilmer had found more stability in his personal life, in his relationship with British actress Joanne Whalley. They had met in 1987 while filming 'Willow' in the UK. In his book, he describes wooing Whalley in an unusual way — by flying another woman, his then-girlfriend, who was 'the unequivocal idea of beauty, an American sweetheart.' The plan was to impress Whalley by bailing on his squeeze, an eccentric stunt that worked. The couple married in 1988 and had two children, Jack, now 29, and Mercedes, now 33. However, not long after the birth of their daughter in 1995, they divorced. Kilmer was dumped as cheekily as Whalley was wooed. 'I learned about her decision to divorce while watching television in Ireland,' he wrote in his autobiography. Still basking in the fame brought about by his starring role in that year's 'Batman Forever,' he wrote, 'It was broadcast on CNN as a hard news story.' Coming onto the scene to soothe his broken heart: supermodel Cindy Crawford. Their relationship was another whirlwind, this one lasting two years. Of his time with her, he remembered how she used to prepare his favorite dish, salmon, at her home in Malibu. They first fantasized about how they'd decorate an imaginary ranch together; then they moved to a real one in New Mexico. Kilmer maintained his relationship with the model was a 'cat and mouse game.' She was always on the go, while he wanted her to be around. That relationship, he wrote, ended with a conversation. They were mannered and adult about it, but just incompatible. On the other side of things, his bust-up with Daryl Hannah was something else altogether. They had met on the set of 'In God We Trust,' in which they co-starred in 2001. It was a superstar relationship where they attracted the flashbulbs wherever they went and attended the Grammys and the Oscars together, skied in Telluride and then retreated to the ranch in New Mexico, which he kept after the split from Crawford. Through it all, though, Kilmer figures he was overly possessive. Their breakup is the one that hit him the hardest. 'Lord knows I've suffered heartache with women,' he wrote in his book. 'But Daryl was by far the most painful of all. Suffice to say, I would have done anything to win her back.' Busted up as Kilmer's heart may have been, he still had room for one more great celebrity romance in his life. True to form, he met the beguiling Angelina Jolie on the set of 'Alexander.' The 2004 movie may have boasted a heavily A-list cast — including Colin Farrell in the titular role as Alexander the Great and Anthony Hopkins — but is regarded as a bit of a trifle. Reprising with Oliver Stone — who also directed him in 'The Doors' — Kilmer hatched another offbeat plan to romance Jolie. She was playing Alexander's mother while he was the father, so Kilmer told Stone he'd take the role under one condition: He and Jolie needed to 'have flashbacks to falling hard for each other and storming the castle with passion, before turning against each other.' Stone played along and the plan panned out. Kilmer and Jolie became an item. He described her as 'the most soulful and serious of them all.' Ultimately, though, life imitated art. The relationship was short-lived and — despite the fact that Kilmer 'couldn't wait to kiss her' and 'buy her a Gulfstream jet' — he was no match for Jolie's next conquest: Brad Pitt. Pitt — then the biggest actor on the planet, with much more star power than Kilmer — met Jolie on the set of 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith' (while he was still married to Jennifer Aniston). The rest of that story is Hollywood history. After that leading lady, Kilmer's love life seemed to fizzle out and he instead decided to dedicate his time to his craft as an actor and painting suitably eccentric artworks as his focus in life. In 2020, he admitted he 'hadn't dated in 20 years.' A practicing Christian Scientist, Kilmer's voice — one of his most valuable assets as an actor — took a hit after he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014. He had started performing the one-man play 'Citizen Twain,' which he also wrote and directed, at various theaters around the country in 2010, to great reviews. However, by 2015, audiences became shocked at his scratchy tone and diminished voice, and he had begun to hide his neck under scarves. Eventually he revealed his diagnosis in 2017. Although his latter years were largely lived away from Hollywood, Kilmer did make 'Cinema Twain,' a movie version of his stage show, in 2019, and in 2021, a documentary on his life using years of archive footage, 'Val,' was released. When a sequel to 'Top Gun' was finally made in 2022, Kilmer had a part, with his voice digitally created through AI trained on old clips. Kilmer's art was also a dominating factor in his life. He maintained a warehouse where he provided space for younger artists, exhibited his work and did not relegate his painting surfaces to canvas. While working on 'I'm Your Huckleberry,' he proved as much to co-author David Ritz. 'David is bald,' the book's agent, David Vigliano, told The Post. 'At one point, Val took a magic marker and drew on David's head. I don't remember what he drew, but I do remember that David loved it. 'He thought it was funny and sweet and in keeping with Val's sweet, freewheeling nature.' Thinking back on the time he spent with Kilmer and some of the elements that attracted women, from Cher to Daryl Hannah to Angelina Jolie, Vigliano added, 'Val was just a gentle, creative, loving guy.'
