The Iceman Go-eth

Remembering Val Kilmer

I read about Val Kilmer’s passing about an hour before bed last night. While I knew he had been sick for years, I was still saddened—and even shocked—to hear he had died.

Kilmer was one of my first Hollywood crushes. I have no idea how many times I watched Top Secret!, Real Genius, and Top Gun as a kid and teenager.

Even back then, I was torn between wanting to be more like him and wanting to marry someone like him. His movie-star good looks and acting chops made my heart go pitter-patter every time he entered a scene. I literally couldn’t take my eyes off him.

Over the years, his fame and being labeled a “genius” went to his head a bit too much for my taste. I worked with enough “difficult” actors to be thankful I never worked with him. But I am thankful I got to see him perform live.

A little over a decade ago, I had the rare chance to see Val Kilmer in Citizen Twain, a one-man show where he embodied the legendary writer and orator Mark Twain. It was unlike anything I’d seen before—intimate, raw, and deeply funny. Kilmer disappeared into Twain, capturing his wit, charm, and contradictions with an effortless grace. He wasn’t just performing; he was channeling.

Looking back, I’m grateful I got to witness that transformation in person. Val Kilmer was more than a movie star—he was an artist, a storyteller, and an undeniable force.

His on-screen work shaped so many of my early pop culture memories, and his passing feels like the loss of an old friend.

Rest easy, Iceman.
Clint 🌈✌️

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FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

• Smithsonian Institution Braces For Trump Rewrite Of US History (The Guardian)

• Queer History On View In New Special Collections Exhibition (Penn State)

• Val Kilmer Wrote Moving Last Instagram Post Before Death (Men’s Journal)

ON THIS DAY = APRIL 2

BIRTHDAYS

• 1805 = Hans Christian Andersen = Danish writer 🌈

• 1840 = Émile Zola = French writer

• 1875 = Walter Chrysler = American businessman and Chrysler founder

• 1891 = Max Ernst = German artist and poet

• 1902 = Jan Tschichold = German-Swiss graphic designer and typographer

• 1906 = R.W. Ketton-Cremer = English biographer and historian 🌈

• 1908 = Buddy Ebsen = American actor and dancer

• 1914 = Alec Guinness = English actor 🌈

• 1920 = Jack Stokes = English animator and director

• 1920 = Jack Webb = American actor and filmmaker

• 1923 = Gloria Henry = American actor

• 1939 = Marvin Gaye = American singer-songwriter

• 1942 = Leon Russell = American singer-songwriter

• 1943 = Antonio Sabàto, Sr. = Italian actor

• 1945 = Linda Hunt = American actor 🌈

• 1947 = Emmylou Harris = American singer-songwriter

• 1947 = Camille Paglia = American author and critic

• 1956 = David Bohnett = American philanthropist and tech entrepreneur 🌈

• 1961 = Christopher Meloni = American actor

• 1962 = Billy Dean = American singer-songwriter

• 1962 = Clark Gregg = American actor

• 1975 = Pedro Pascal = Chilean and American actor

• 1977 = Michael Fassbender = German-Irish actor and producer

• 1996 = Zach Bryan = American singer-songwriter

EVENTS

• 1513 = Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León claims Florida for Spain as the first known European to reach it.

• 1792 = The Coinage Act is passed by Congress, establishing the US Mint and authorizing the $10 Eagle, $5 Half-Eagle, $2.50 Quarter-Eagle gold coins, and the silver dollar, half dollar, quarter, dime, and half-dime.

• 1800 = Ludwig van Beethoven leads the premiere of his First Symphony.

• 1902 = "Electric Theatre", the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles.

• 1956 = As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiere on CBS. The two soaps become the first daytime dramas to debut in the 30-minute format.

• 1968 = 2001: A Space Odyssey premiered in Washington, D.C.

• 1972 = Actor Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States for the first time since being labeled a communist during the Red Scare in the early 1950s.

• 1973 = LexisNexis, the computerized legal research service, launches.

• 1978 = Dallas premieres on CBS.

HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES

• National DIY Day

• National Reconciliation Day

• National Walking Day

• World Autism Awareness Day

PORTRAIT + QUOTES OF THE DAY

“Who is more foolish? The fool or the fool that follows it?”
Alec Guinness

“Personally, I have only one great regret - that I never dared enough. If at all.”
Alec Guinness

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