Val Kilmer's official cause of death revealed following decade-long health battle  

As the world pays tribute to Val Kilmer following his unexpected passing on April 1, the actor's official cause of death has been revealed.

The Top Gun star's health suffered in the last decade of his life, after a throat cancer diagnosis in 2014 and a tracheotomy that largely robbed him of his voice. 

His only daughter, Mercedes, shared with The New York Times upon his death that he had passed away from pneumonia, confirmed by the death certificate obtained by TMZ.

The underlying causes of his death were listed in the certificate as hypoxemic respiratory failure, chronic respiratory failure, and squamous cell carcinoma of the base of the tongue. He was cremated on April 7. 

A decade of pain

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Val opened up about his battle with throat cancer in his 2020 memoir, I'm Your Huckleberry, revealing that he did not want to undergo treatment at first. 

"Reports emerged that I was in denial. Well, denial is a funny thing. I was not denying that I had had cancer but was simply saying I no longer did," he wrote. 

"And to be honest, it was very hard to embrace my original diagnosis. It was surreal. I didn't believe I was decomposing, and I wasn't ready to die."

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After receiving radiation and chemotherapy, Val was forced to use a permanent tracheostomy tube. 

"Now that it's more difficult to speak, I want to tell my story more than ever," the 65-year-old said in his 2020 documentary, Val.

"I obviously am sounding much worse than I feel," he added. "I can speak without plugging this hole. You have to make the choice to breathe or to eat…It's an obstacle that is very present with whoever sees me."

New lease on life

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His final on-screen appearance was in the smash hit 2022 film Top Gun which saw reprise his role as Iceman alongside Tom Cruise.

For the film, producers used AI to recreate his voice, which gave Val some of his old self back. "After getting treated, my voice as I knew it was taken away from me. People around me struggle to understand when I'm talking," he explained ahead of the film's release. 

"But despite all that I still feel, I'm the exact same person. Still the same creative soul. A soul that dreams ideas and stories confidently, but now I can express myself again, bring these ideas to you, and show you this part of myself once more. A part that was never truly gone. Just hiding away." 

Saying goodbye

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Tom Cruise led the crowd at CinemaCon in a moment of silence after Val's death, paying tribute to his friend and former co-star.

"I can't tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honored I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick," he said. "I wish you well on the next journey." 

Val's children spoke out after their father's death, sharing in a statement that they are "so proud of him and honored to see his legacy celebrated." 

"Thank you for honoring our extraordinary father's memory. At this time, we would like to grieve privately," they concluded. Val is survived by his daughter Mercedes and his son Jack, whom he welcomed with his ex-wife, Joanne Whalley. 

To learn more about Val's incredible life, see below...