Val Kilmer Says He’s ‘Lonely,’ Discusses His Cancer Diagnosis In New Memoir

Throughout the 1990s, Val Kilmer was one of the most eligible bachelors in Hollywood. The actor dated a number of incredibly famous women, including Angelina Jolie, Cher, and Cindy Crawford. Now, though, the actor has written in his memoir that he hasn’t dated anyone in more than two decades, according to People.

“I haven’t had a girlfriend in 20 years,” Kilmer writes in his book, I’m Your Huckleberry: A Memoir, which is set to be released on April 21.

“The truth is I am lonely part of every day,” the actor continued.

In addition to the many famous faces he’s dated over the years, Kilmer was also married to Joanne Whalley from 1988 to 1996. The two have two children together: a daughter named Mercedes, 28, and a son named Jack, 24.

Kilmer also admitted that he’d always been drawn to women, in part because of the ways he thinks they differ from men.

“I’ve always found women infinitely more interesting than men. Perhaps that’s why we’ve always gotten along. We are big oaf elephants… and they are butterflies,” he writes.

In previously released excerpts from the book, Kilmer also discussed his battle with throat cancer, and the way that Cher helped him when he was facing some serious health scares.

“Once Cher works her way inside your head and heart, she never leaves. For her true friends, her steadfast love and loyalty never die,” Kilmer writes in the book.

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After he was diagnosed with throat cancer, Kilmer underwent a tracheotomy, chemotherapy, and radiation to treat the disease, and also turned to Christian Science. His speech was impacted by the cancer, but Kilmer reportedly keeps busy by doing vocal exercises to improve it. In the book, he’s said that the fact that his impeded speech could have meant the end of his career only motivated him to get better.

Today, Kilmer is cancer-free and busy touring with his one-man show, which focuses on Mark Twain. Kilmer is also set to reprise his role in the sequel to Top Gun, Top Gun: Maverick, which will be released in December.

Kilmer also discussed additional details about his love life, and shared the greatest heartbreak he ever had to deal with. In the memoir, Kilmer says that the end of his relationship with Daryl Hannah broke his heart more than any other. Years later, Hannah married musician Neil Young.

“But Daryl was by far the most painful of all. (Neil Young, I always loved you, but I’m afraid I hate you now),” Kilmer writes.