Val Kilmer Slept on Hospital Floor to Care For Newborn Daughter — At 31, She Shows Rare Pic with Daddy

• Val Kilmer and his daughter share a close relationship.
• The family is private, but Val’s daughter, Mercedes, recently shared a throwback photo that fans loved.
• Val and his daughter have been through tough times together.

American actor, Val Kilmer, has been a Hollywood star since his role as Tom Kazansky in 1986’s “Top Gun.” He has also starred in many other famous Hollywood titles like “Tombstone,” “Batman Forever,” and “Heat.”

While he was focused on his career, Val always made time to care for his children and even slept uncomfortably so that he could care for his newborn daughter. Now that daughter is all grown up and loves her father very much.

Mercedes Kilmer, now 31, recently shared a photo on her Instagram story that warmed the hearts of fans worldwide. In the snap, Mercedes, her brother Jack, her father, and Britney Spears are smiling at the camera.

The Kilmer family is ordinarily very private and hardly ever share photos of themselves as children or many images of their lives as they are now, which made this snap doubly as special for fans.

Val and his wife, Joanne Whalley, tied the knot in 1988 after they met on the “Willow” movie set. They went on to star in “Kill Me Again” together a year after they exchanged vows. By 1991, they had begun expanding their family.

In 1991, Val and Joanne welcomed their daughter, Mercedes. Four years later, the family expanded again with the addition of the couple’s son, Jack. A year later, in 1995, Val and Joanne divorced.

While their marriage did not last, the couple remained friendly and worked together again. Their love for their children remained unchanged, and Val shared what it was like for him to become a father in his memoir.

The actor gushed that his daughter was a “precious angel” and “gift of God” and that his life changed entirely after her birth. He then mentioned that when she was born, he had asked the nurse where his bed was.

The nurse thought Val was joking because no father had ever requested to remain at the hospital with his wife and newborn child. When Val clarified his seriousness, the nurse organized a bed for him.

Val waited as the nurse brought up a foam mat and a used blanket. The actor placed the makeshift bed on the hospital’s linoleum floor and spent the night there as his wife and new daughter slept comfortably in their bed and crib.

The actor confessed that he got the impression people felt all the things he wanted to do were women’s work. He wanted to bathe his daughter, feed her, cuddle her, and sing her sweet lullabies.

From the moment Val laid eyes on Mercedes, the pair have shared a close bond. When asked what brought them closer, Val mentioned they love animals and nature.

The father-daughter duo loved riding horses and even did horse jumping lessons together when Mercedes was a little girl. The pair also loved hiking and looking at Native American rock art. When they were not out in nature, they also did indoor things like shopping for clothes together.

When asked how they are alike, Val admitted that both of them are stubborn but that they also both have a zest for life that allows them to find joy in even the simplest moments. Val enjoyed watching his daughter grow with this characteristic.

Val also talked about how imaginative Mercedes was when she was a little girl. He once shared an anecdote from when Mercedes was just a toddler that exhibited this. Mercedes was offered an apple and began telling her parents the “elaborate and intricate” way she wanted them to prepare it for her before they realized she was playing a prank. Val admitted it was hilarious.

When Mercedes was asked what made her relationship with her father special, she also mentioned loving being outdoors with her father. She shared:

“We would sort of play hide-and-seek on horses, and I would come back frequently with shredded pants after a misadventure. We also loved to go camping in Ojai, California. He would make my brother and me go camping both in the rain and snow.”

Mercedes also shared that she and her father have similar humor and enjoy observing passersby. The pair both write to express their creativity and expand themselves as people.

Although Mercedes and her father share a lovely bond, life has not always been easy for the pair. Val was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015, and doctors had to treat him with chemotherapy, radiation, and a tracheostomy.

All of these medical procedures damaged Val’s vocal cords, and his speaking voice was permanently altered. However, this didn’t change Mercedes’ relationship with her beloved father.

Talking about what it was like for them to learn to deal with her father’s diagnosis, Mercedes said his prognosis did not look good initially but that her father is physically and mentally resilient.

Mercedes felt inspired by how her father dealt with his illness and admitted that he had even been joking while in the hospital. While she loved how her father dealt with everything, Mercedes admitted:

“It’s really difficult to go through that with a parent and also to go through it with someone in the public eye.”

Mercedes believes that when her father is at his best, his an intelligent, funny, and talkative man. However, at his worst, he is quick to argue. Although cancer affected how he communicates, Mercedes confirmed that he had found ways to communicate effectively.

Val’s daughter believes that their relationship is so special because her father is a unique person, which has allowed them to remain friends throughout the years. They now live close to one another in LA.