Editing Val Kilmer (section)

==Early life, family and education==
Val Edward Kilmer was born on December 31, 1959 (New Year’s Eve), in [[Los Angeles]], [[California]],<ref name="name" /> the second of three sons to Gladys Swanette ({{nee|Ekstadt}}; 1928–2019)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wickenburgfuneralhome.com/obituary/gladys-leach|title=Obituary for Gladys Leach |website= wickenburgfuneralhome.com| publisher= Wickenburg Funeral Home & Crematory |access-date=February 2, 2022|archive-date=February 2, 2022|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220202220314/https://www.wickenburgfuneralhome.com/obituary/gladys-leach|url-status=dead}}</ref> and industrialist and developer Eugene Dorris Kilmer (1921–1993).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-04-30-me-29286-story.html?_amp=true|title=Eugene D. Kilmer; Industrialist, Developer| website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=April 30, 1993}}</ref> His mother was of Swedish descent,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blackbookmag.com/movies/last-tango-in-pecos-1.28985 |title=Val Kilmer's Last Tango in Pecos |website= blackbookmag.com| publisher= |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110184255/http://www.blackbookmag.com/movies/last-tango-in-pecos-1.28985 |archive-date= January 10, 2012 |access-date=June 12, 2012}}</ref> and his father's ancestry included Irish, German, and [[Cherokee roots]].<ref name=pha>{{cite news |last= Leith| first= William |title= A solitary man|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=March 26, 2004| url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3614594/A-solitary-man.html |archive-url= https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3614594/A-solitary-man.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access= subscription |url-status=live | location=London| access-date= October 26, 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref> His parents divorced in 1968 when he was 8 years old and in 1970, his mother married William Bernard Leach.

Kilmer was raised with [[Christian Science]] beliefs, which he maintained for most of his life. In 1977, Kilmer's younger brother Wesley (1961–1977), who had [[epilepsy]], drowned in a [[hot tub]] at age 16.<ref name="New York">{{cite news | title = A Long-Lingering Grief That Serves a New Role | work = [[The New York Times]] | date = April 21, 2002 | last1 = Kennedy | first1 = Dana | page = 54 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/21/movies/film-a-long-lingering-grief-serves-a-new-role.html | access-date = October 24, 2009 |quote=...his younger brother Wesley, who drowned 25 years ago. Kilmer has another brother, Ian Robert Greenfield (Kilmer), born April 9th 1979. ... Despite the passage of time, Mr. Kilmer, 42, was still haunted by his brother's death... [He] was 15 and an aspiring filmmaker when he died.| archive-date=March 7, 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160307005009/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/21/movies/film-a-long-lingering-grief-serves-a-new-role.html| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last= Brodesser-Akner| first=Taffy |date=May 6, 2020 |title=What Happened to Val Kilmer? He's Just Starting to Figure It Out. |work= The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/06/magazine/val-kilmer.html |access-date=May 9, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Kilmer attended [[Chatsworth High School]] where he was friends with actors [[Kevin Spacey]]<ref name="name" /> and [[Mare Winningham]], whom Kilmer dated.<ref name= "new book">{{cite web |url= https://variety.com/2020/film/features/from-top-gun-to-10-commandments-val-kilmers-new-book-1234591950/| title= From 'Top Gun' to '10 Commandments,' Val Kilmer's New Book Details Highs and Lows |first= Jenelle| last= Riley| work= [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date= April 30, 2020 | access-date = April 23, 2025}}</ref> He became the youngest person at the time to be accepted into the [[Juilliard School]]'s Drama Division, where he was a member of [[List of Juilliard School people|Group 10]].<ref name= "juilliard">{{cite web | title = Batman Returns to His Cave | work = The Juilliard Journal | publisher = [[Juilliard School]] | date = December 2005| volume= 21| issue=4| first= Geoffrey |last= Murphy| url = http://www.juilliard.edu/update/journal/j_articles733.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060902185358/http://www.juilliard.edu/update/journal/j_articles733.html | archive-date = September 2, 2006|quote=Kilmer was accepted to Juilliard, the youngest person to be admitted to the Drama Division. (This record survived until the arrival of current third-year student [[Seth Numrich]], who was accepted at age 15.) | access-date = May 11, 2006}}</ref> At Juilliard, Kilmer and Spacey's friendship ended over a financial matter.<ref name="biz" />