I'm Your Huckleberry

A Memoir

Val Kilmer

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781982144906
• eBook ISBN:
  9781982144913
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Film History & Criticism
• Index: Social Sciences

In this New York Times bestseller, legendary actor and star of the acclaimed documentary Val shares the stories behind his most beloved roles, reminisces about his star-studded career and love life, and reveals the truth behind his recent health struggles in a remarkably candid autobiography. Val Kilmer has played many iconic roles over his nearly four-decade film career. A table-dancing Cold War agent in Top Secret! A troublemaking science prodigy in Real Genius. A brash fighter pilot in Top Gun. A swashbuckling knight in Willow. A lovelorn bank robber in Heat. A charming master of disguise in The Saint. A wise-cracking detective in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Of course, Batman, Jim Morrison and the sharp-shooting Doc Holliday. But who is the real Val Kilmer? With I'm Your Huckleberry —published prior to the highly anticipated sequel Top Gun: Maverick, in which Kilmer returns to the big screen as Tom "Iceman" Kazansky—the enigmatic actor at last steps out of character and reveals his true self. In this uniquely assembled memoir—featuring vivid prose, snippets of poetry and rarely-seen photos—Kilmer reflects on his acclaimed career, including becoming the youngest actor ever admitted to the Juilliard School's famed drama department, determinedly campaigning to win the lead part in The Doors, and realizing a years-long dream of performing a one-man show as his hero Mark Twain. He shares candid stories of working with screen legends Marlon Brando, Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr. and Robert De Niro, and recounts high-profile romances with Cher, Cindy Crawford, Daryl Hannah, and former wife Joanne Whalley. He chronicles his spiritual journey and lifelong belief in Christian Science, and describes travels to far-flung locales such as a scarcely inhabited island in the Indian Ocean where he suffered from delirium and was cared for by the resident tribe. And he reveals details of his recent throat cancer diagnosis and recovery—about which he has disclosed little until now. While containing plenty of tantalizing celebrity anecdotes, I'm Your Huckleberry —taken from the famous line Kilmer delivers as Holliday in Tombstone —is ultimately a singularly written and deeply moving reflection on mortality and the mysteries of life.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• 1. The Pinball Machine
• 2. Happy Trails to You, Roy Rogers and Charles Manson
• 3. Grandpa Kilmer’s Grave in Truth or Consequences
• 4. Father’s Flying Dream, Facing the Chief
• 5. Spooked by Love
• 6. The Deepest Wound
• 7. THE Juilliard School
• 8. Tadashi Suzuki and the Elusive Nature of Fate
• 9. Cher Likes My Harley
• 10. Top Secret!
• 11. Real Genius
• 12. Father & Son
• 13. New Mexico Is Called the “Land of Enchantment” or, as I’m Proud to Have Coined, the “Land of Entrapment”
• 14. I Did ‘Top Gun’, Son
• 15. You’re So Twain (Carly)
• 16. Let’s Go Upstairs
• 17. Willow
• 18. The Doors
• 19. Shattered
• 20. Brando
• 21. Confusions & Contradictions
• 22. Thunderheart
• 23. Colic Convulsion Then Holy Miracle
• 24. Doc Holidays
• 25. True Romance
• 26. Eugene D. Kilmer
• 27. The Kudu
• 28. Batman, but Forever?
• 29. Take the ‘Heat’
• 30. Birth & Death
• 31. The Island Is Dr. Moreau
• 32. Crocodiles & Ecstasy
• 33. The Sinner Is the Saint
• 34. More, More, More
• 35. Never the Twain Shall Meet
• 36. Soft Opening
• 37. Declarations of Independence
• 38. Gay as a Pink Hairnet
• 39. Siren on a Snowboard
• 40. Hiding from God
• 41. Kiss Kiss Kiss Goes the Indie, Bang Bang Bang Goes the Downey
• 42. Land
• 43. Glory & Gore
• 44. Denial vs. Denial
• 45. The Iceman Cometh Again
• 46. HelMel
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Photo Credits
• Copyright