Val Kilmer

Born: 31 December 1959
Where: Los Angeles, California

The former ranch-hand made his big screen breakthrough as Lt Tom "Iceman" Kazanski opposite Tom Cruise in Top Gun.

Subsequent roles have included singer Jim Morrison in The Doors, Batman in Batman Forever and Simon Templar in the US remake of The Saint.

However, while no doubt an accomplished actor, he has often opted for projects that fail to showcase his talent.

Kilmer grew up on a ranch, attended primary school with Kevin Spacey, and went on to study drama at the Juilliard School in New York.

He appeared in several plays but his Broadway debut came in 1983 with The Slab Boys alongside Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon.

1984 saw Kilmer featuring in his first film - Top Secret, which also starred Omar Sharif - but his real breakthrough came as Cruise's bitter rival in Top Gun.

In 1988 he featured in Ron Howard's Willow, where he met future wife Joanna Whalley.

Oliver Stone's The Doors starred Kilmer as erratic singer Jim Morrison and earned him enormous critical acclaim.

One of his most challenging roles came as Christian Slater's Elvis hallucination in Tony Scott's True Romance.

After Michael Keaton pulled out of his superhero role, Kilmer replaced him for the third Batman movie, the star-top heavy and lacklustre Batman Forever.

A feature version of 60s classic TV series The Saint was a huge success...but it also earned him a nomination as worst actor in the Razzle Awards.

Kilmer voiced Moses in the animated feature The Prince of Egypt and then took supporting roles in Pollock, Red Planet and The Salton Sea.

He starred as porn star John Holmes in the controversial movie Wonderland, and appeared in Ron Howard's mystical western The Missing.

David Mamet's Spartan saw him in possible his most assured performance in while as a special forces office who questions his own loyalty.

Recent work includes Oliver Stone's epic, Alexander, in which he played Colin Farrell's one-eyed father Philip.