Val Kilmer
Kilmer in 2005, Denis Makarenko / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Val Edward Kilmer
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States
Date of Birth: December 31, 1959
Ethnicity:
*father – German, English, Welsh, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, French Huguenot
*mother – Swedish
Val Kilmer is an American actor. He is the son of Gladys (Ekstadt) and Eugene Kilmer. Val’s father was of German, English, Welsh, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, and French Huguenot, ancestry. Val’s mother was born in Indiana, of entirely Swedish descent.
Val has two children, including actor Jack Kilmer, with his former wife, English actress Joanne Whalley.
Val’s paternal grandfather was Thomas/Tom Walker Kilmer (the son of Jeremiah Early Kilmer and Nancy Williams). Thomas was born in Texas, and was a gold miner in New Mexico. Jeremiah was the son of James/John Kilmer, who was said to be German, and of Mary Polly Meadows/Meadors/Meador Heard. Nancy was the daughter of Wright Williams and Lucinda Pigg.
Val’s paternal grandmother was Nora/Norah Elizabeth Jones (the daughter of Stephen T. Jones and Sarah Elizabeth “Sallie” Webb). Nora was born in Tennessee. Stephen was the son of Raybie Jones and Sallie. Val’s great-grandmother Sarah was the daughter of Armistead/Armsted/Armstead Webb and Elizabeth C. Morrison.
Val’s maternal grandfather was John Edward Ekstadt (the son of John August Ekstadt and Anna Elizabeth Wester). Val’s grandfather John was born in Martin, Minnesota, to Swedish parents.
Val’s maternal grandmother was Hilma Charlotte Swanson (the daughter of Bror Swanson and Karna Elizabeth Nilsdotter). Hilma was born in Sweden. Bror was the son of Sven Brorsson and Johanna Nilsdotter. Karna was the daughter of Nils Nilsson and Ingar Pehrsdotter.
During Val’s interview on Inside the Actors Studio (2000), Val stated that he has Sephardi Jewish, Cherokee Native American, and Mongolian ancestry, perhaps jokingly, perhaps not. He has often referenced having Cherokee ancestry, usually from a paternal great-grandmother. However, no Sephardi Jewish, Cherokee Native American, or Mongolian ancestry has been documented in publicly available family trees of Val Kilmer. Both of Val’s paternal great-grandmothers, Nancy Williams and Sarah Elizabeth Webb were born to non-Cherokee families with fairly well-documented recent ancestors.
Sources: Genealogies of Val Kilmer – http://www.wikitree.com
https://www.geni.com
History of the Kilmer family – http://www.geocities.ws
Val’s father on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Genealogy of Val’s paternal grandfather, Thomas/Tom Walker Kilmer (focusing on his own father’s side) – http://www.findagrave.com
Information about Val’s paternal great-grandfather, Jeremiah Early Kilmer – http://objgenealogy.com
Val’s mother on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Birth record of Val’s maternal grandfather, John Edward Ekstadt – https://familysearch.org
Val’s maternal grandfather, John Edward Ekstadt, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
my son is often compared to val kilmer. my son is of german, irish, scottish and english descent. the funny thing is – kilmer was married to joanne whalley and my son’s grandmother’s maiden name is whalley. also, my son was born on december 31 only in 1970. personally, i think my son looks like a cross between matt damon and val kilmer. the old ladies call him “the Hunk”. we all should be so lucky as to resemble these two guys. i love them all!
I agree with Robert!
Best regards to everyone!
He is obviously not biracial and is clearly of European descent. I think most of the celebs who claim to be part Cherokee aren’t really. He almost didn’t get the role of Ray LeVoi in Thunderheart because he couldn’t prove his Native American ancestry, he has no one listed on the Dawes rolls. Also I highly doubt that he is Mongolian descent because we weren’t getting heavy Mongolian immigration in the 1800’s and early 1900’s , there was Chinese and Japanese immigration. There were also anti miscegenation laws in place to keep white people from marrying people of other races. Maybe his Swedish ancestors mixed with some Lapps and he is mistaken .
Also Native Americans are closely related to Yupik and Chukchi of Russia and the Lapps. I saw someone wrote that they are closely related to the Mongolians.
Not a big deal, but now you mention those peoples.
Yupik are Native Americans, they’re Alaskan Natives. Chukchi are actually several peoples, and the coastal Chukchis have assimilated a number of Yupik as well, which is why they’re especially closely related to the Yupik. Asian Yupik are actually called Yuit.
Inuit and Yupik are more closely related with other Native Americans than they are with Asians. Native Americans, however, are NOT closely related with Chukchi – although the Chukchi are closer related with Native Americans than other Asians are, they’re still much closer related with other Asians than they are with Native Americans.
If you go just by random DNA result and completely ignore historical fact, you may think – oh, native Americans comes from Chukchi, or they have a close shared origin. However, in reality it’s partially due to inter-mixture, because Yuit people have travelled FROM the Americas TO Asia, where some of them still lives as Yupik/Yuit.
And the “Lapps” you mention have nothing to do with those peoples, and even the Mongols aren’t particularly related with those peoples.
Oh, and “Lapp” is a slur, by the way.
of all those he mostly looks german to me
Feel me?