Val Kilmer

Val Kilmer caught the acting bug early as the Kilmer boys often spent their summer vacations entertaining visitors of the guest ranch his parents once owned in Arizona. After filming his first TV commercial at age 12 for a fast food company, Val pursued his acting dream, first at Chatsworth High School (with fellow classmates Kevin Spacey & Mare Winningham), then for a senior year at the Hollywood Professional School. He completed his formal training at the Juilliard School of Performing Arts, where, at age 17, Kilmer was the youngest student ever admitted to the Drama department at that time.

After spending some time perfecting his skills on the New York stages with notable performances in "How It All Began" (a production he co-wrote with Juilliard classmates), and "The Slab Boys" (with future stars Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon), Kilmer got his first film role in the comedy spoof "Top Secret!" in 1984. The next few years were a mix of feature films and tv specials, gaining attention in 1986's "Top Gun" and 1988's "Willow."

But it was Val's eerily dead-on portrayal as doomed rock star Jim Morrison for director Oliver Stone's "The Doors" and his tubercular dandy Doc Holliday in "Tombstone" that solidified his place on Hollywood's A-list.

Other notable performances include "Real Genius," "The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains," "Batman Forever," "The Ghost & The Darkness," "The Saint," "The Prince of Egypt," "The Salton Sea" and "Wonderland."

After 20 years in the industry, Val Kilmer is busier than ever. The new millennium brought a return to his first love, the stage, in a musical adaptation of "The Ten Commandments." Kilmer performed in "The Postman Always Rings Twice" on the London stage from June to September 2005.

In film, he enjoyed a reunion with Oliver Stone for the ancient epic, "Alexander." He starred in the comedy "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang," the animated "Delgo" and the thriller "Mindhunters" in the same time period. He has since starred in movies like "Deja Vu," "Felon," "Streets of Blood," "The Traveler," "MacGruber" and "Planes."

Val has been and continues to be very involved with his local and global communities as well. He traveled with AmeriCares in 1998 to bring food and supplies to the people of Iraq, joined forces with American Forests' Releaf program to plant trees around the world, sits on the New Mexico Film Commission to bring filmmaking and jobs to his beloved adopted state and joined the United Nations as an UNESCO (United Nations Education, Scientific & Cultural Organization) Ambassador and remains open to the call to help.