Val Kilmer discovered he was getting divorced from Joanne Whalley in brutal way

Hollywood legend rubbed shoulders with many icons over the course of his stellar career, and there were of course a number of great romances.

The , who has sadly , was once described by film critic Roger Ebert as "the most unsung leading man of his generation". He was linked to a number of the most glamorous women in showbusiness, including Daryl Hannah, Cher, and Cindy Crawford.

There was, however, just one woman he made it down the aisle with - English actress Joanne Whalley. Kilmer and Whalley, now 63, first locked eyes on the set of the 1988 fantasy film Willow, and sparks soon flew. Shortly afterwards, they were an item, embarking on a whirlwind romance that led to a wedding in the same year that their movie was released. Intriguingly, however, Kilmer would later claim that he'd known years before they met that they were destined to be, with a prophetic dream pointing him in the right direction.

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As told to The New York Times in 2020, before he and Whalley even had a conversation, Kilmer had a dream that he met the woman he was destined to be with. Upon waking, he immediately penned a poem entitled 'We've Just Met But Marry Me Please'.

Right afterwards, he travelled to London, where he saw a play featuring Whalley. He was immediately drawn to the actress and even went as far as to follow her to an after-party at a pub. At this point, however, he didn't make a move. This was in 1985, two years before Kilmer and Whalley filmed their iconic scenes as lovers Madmartigan and Sorsha in Willow. They also went on to star together in the 1989 thriller, Kill Me Again.

Viewers were struck by the onscreen chemistry of the pair, and for a while all seemed to be going well offscreen too. The couple went on to have two children, welcoming daughter Mercedes in 1991, and son Jack in 1995.

As explained during a 2007 interview with The Telegraph, Whalley took a step back from the acting to focus on raising her young children while Kilmer's star continued to soar. Whalley reflected: "I can't think of anything better to do than to have my kids. If I was career-orientated, I could say: 'Well, I could have done that...' But I don' think like that at all. For me, being able to stay home with my kids is the biggest luxury in the world."

Everything came crumbling down, however, in 1995, when Whalley served Kilmer with divorce papers, citing irreconcilable differences. Kilmer would later tell the Tampa Bay Times that he learned of the divorce while watching CNN in a hotel room. Opening up to the publication in 1999, Kilmer recalled: "It was no fun."

According to Kilmer, the divorce, which came just two months after the birth of their second child, was the second most expensive in New Mexico. Whalley, who appeared in and before making a name for herself in Hollywood, ultimately won the custody battle, and took the kids with her to live in LA. Kilmer admitted: "I miss my children every single way that's possible, and ways I didn't know were possible."

The marriage reportedly faltered due to constant rumours about on-set flings, as well as Kilmer's status as a sex symbol. Shortly afterwards, Kilmer began dating model Cindy Crawford. He then dated producer Jayce Gosset in the late 90s and early 2000s, before entering into a relationship with Daryl Hannah in 2001. In his 2020 biography, I'm Your Huckleberry: A Memoir, Kilmer shared how he'd "cried every single day for half a year" following his break-up from Hannah.

He then began a romance with Angelina Jolie, who he worked with on the 2004 film, Alexander. Kilmer would later write: "When people ask me what Angelina is like, I always say she's like other women and other superstars, but just more. More gorgeous. More wise. More tragic. More magic. More grounded. Is it worth it? Worth knowing people who require weeks of effort to understand even a little? Yes."

However, at the time he penned his memoir, Kilmer claimed he hadn't "had a girlfriend in 20 years", confessing: "The truth is I am lonely part of every day."

As for Whalley, she made an acting comeback once her children were grown, appearing in costume dramas such as The Borgias (2011-13), Wolf Hall (2015), and The White Princess (2017). She also reprised her role as Sorsha in the 2022 sequel series to Willow. Kilmer was unable to return as Madmartigan, and so his son Jack stepped in to voice a cameo appearance of the character.

Kilmer's family confirmed he had passed away on Tuesday, April 1, giving the cause of death was as pneumonia. His daughter revealed her father had recovered from throat cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 2014.

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