Actor Val Kilmer dies at 65, knew New Mexico well

Val Kilmer spent his days at his home on the Pecos River near Santa Fe, raising bison and chickens when he wasn’t filming movies like “Top Gun” or considering running for governor of New Mexico.

Kilmer, who played notable roles like Doc Holliday, the Doors’ Jim Morrison and the caped crusader Batman, died Tuesday night in his home in Los Angeles after a battle with pneumonia. He was 65.

Kilmer had unique ties to New Mexico, stretching back to his early days, when his grandfather worked as a gold miner in New Mexico in the 1970s. Kilmer’s father was born in Gila, and his grandfather was laid to rest in New Mexico, according to the Los Angeles Times.

When Kilmer was 34, he spoke about New Mexico, saying the open fields and space gave him a feeling unlike any other.

“I live in the U.S.’ fifth-largest state, yet there are less people there than in Central London,” Kilmer told Film Review Magazine in 1994. “There’s still quite a bit of space. And it just does something for you. It creates a spirit that I find quite noble.”

Kilmer would call New Mexico home after he purchased a 5,300-acre ranch along the Pecos River in the 1990s, living there until 2011, when he sold it to a Texas oil executive for $18.5 million.

A year before selling his Pecos home, Kilmer toyed with the idea of running for governor of New Mexico, going as far as hiring a political strategist to aid in his campaign. Former Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson did not outright endorse Kilmer for governor but said he liked the idea of it.

“It’s been my home 25 years,” Kilmer told the New York Post. “I really love my state. Poor, hardworking, decent people — Native Americans, carpenters, artists, expats mixed in with hundreds of the world’s smartest physicists at Los Alamos. I’ve always thought of myself as functioning as a candidate for them.”

Though Kilmer didn’t end up running for governor, he was known to lobby for more films to be shot in the state.

In 2003, Kilmer sparked controversy after an interview with Rolling Stone, in which Kilmer said he lived in the “homicide capital of the Southwest” and that “80% of the people in my county are drunk.” Kilmer denied the article and said he was misquoted, but the magazine’s executives released a statement saying they stood by the piece.

Years later, neighbors of Kilmer would bring up his controversial comments at the San Miguel County Commission in 2010, stating Kilmer was attempting to “cause insubordination among Hispanic ranks,” residents told the Journal. Kilmer had other issues arise with neighbors who claimed he chased away those who wished to fish along the portion of the Pecos River near his home.

“I can only ask that you view my apology as a stepping stone toward repairing this misunderstanding between us so that we can go forward, working together toward a common interest in promoting and protecting our beloved New Mexico,” Kilmer said. “From my heart, I love it here. I got married here and my children were born here.”