When people think of Val Kilmer, they usually picture the ice-cold stare of Iceman in Top Gun or the sweat-soaked intensity of Jim Morrison in The Doors. He was a massive star, a total 90s icon. But for all the high-profile dating rumors that swirled around him—dating legends like Cher, Cindy Crawford, and Angelina Jolie—there was only one woman he actually walked down the aisle with.
Honestly, the answer is Joanne Whalley.
If you're a fan of 80s fantasy, you know her as Sorsha from Willow. That’s basically where the whole story begins. It wasn’t just a movie set; it was the start of the only marriage Kilmer ever had. They were together for about eight years, and while it looked like a Hollywood fairy tale for a minute, the ending was anything but.
✨ Don't miss: Kapil Sharma and Wife Ginni Chatrath: The Truth About Their 20-Year Journey
The Willow Connection and a New Mexico Romance
Val Kilmer met Joanne Whalley in 1987. She was a rising star from Salford, England, and she’d just landed her first big American lead in Willow. Val was playing Madmartigan, the roguish swordsman. You can actually see the chemistry on screen—it wasn't just acting.
They got married in March 1988, right as the movie was becoming a cult classic.
For a while, they were the "it" couple of the indie-meets-blockbuster scene. Joanne even started going by Joanne Whalley-Kilmer professionally. They didn't just live the Hollywood life, either. They spent a lot of time on Kilmer’s massive 6,000-acre ranch in New Mexico. It was a place for bison, hiking, and getting away from the paparazzi.
They had two kids together:
- Mercedes Kilmer, born in 1991.
- Jack Kilmer, born in 1995.
Both kids eventually followed their parents into the arts. Jack is an actor you might recognize from The Nice Guys, and Mercedes is a musician and actress who actually starred alongside her dad in the 2020 film Paydirt.
Why the Marriage Fell Apart
So, what happened? Basically, the pressures of fame and some pretty intense work schedules started to grate. By the mid-90s, Val was at the absolute peak of his career. He was filming Batman Forever and Heat, and he had a reputation for being, well, difficult. Directors like Joel Schumacher and John Frankenheimer famously clashed with him.
That intensity didn't stay on the movie set.
The breakup was legendary for all the wrong reasons. Val actually found out Joanne was filing for divorce while he was watching CNN in a hotel room. Imagine that. You’re working on a film—in this case, the notoriously troubled The Island of Dr. Moreau—and you see your own marriage ending on the news. He later said it was "no fun," which is a pretty huge understatement.
The Fallout and the Finances
The divorce was finalized in February 1996, and it was messy. New Mexico isn't exactly known for massive celebrity settlements, but Kilmer once called theirs the "second most expensive" in the state's history.
There were public disputes over child support that lasted for years. At one point in 2011, Joanne even moved to put a lien on his New Mexico ranch, claiming he owed her back payments. It was a sharp contrast to the quiet life they’d tried to build there.
Life After the Split
After the divorce, Joanne went back to using her birth name professionally. She stayed busy with projects like the Scarlett miniseries and The Man Who Knew Too Little.
Val, on the other hand, never married again.
He stayed single for decades. In his 2020 memoir, I'm Your Huckleberry, he got really vulnerable about it. He admitted that he hadn't had a "girlfriend" in 20 years and felt lonely basically every day. It’s a bit tragic when you think about his status as a world-class heartthrob.
Despite the legal battles and the "CNN moment," the two did eventually find a way to co-parent. When Val was battling throat cancer—a struggle that eventually took his voice—Joanne and the kids were there. Following Val's death from pneumonia on April 1, 2025, Joanne was seen supporting their daughter Mercedes, proving that even after a "tragic" marriage, the family bond stayed intact.
If you’re looking to dive deeper into the Kilmer legacy, watching the 2021 documentary Val is a must. It features a ton of home movies he shot himself, including footage from his time with Joanne, giving a much more personal look at their life together than any tabloid ever could.
To understand the full scope of Val Kilmer's life today, your best bet is to look into the work of his children, Jack and Mercedes, who continue to manage his artistic archives and keep his creative spirit alive through the HelMel Studios space in Los Angeles.