Hollywood megastar Tom Cruise has led a minute’s silence as a major appearance in Las Vegas in honour of his “dear friend” Val Kilmer.

Kilmer and Cruise famously shared the screen together in 1986’s Top Gun, and revisited their roles in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick.

By then, however, Kilmer was unable to speak due to a long battle with throat cancer. His voice was recreated using AI technology that analysed hours of archival recordings.

On Tuesday, Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes confirmed his death from pneumonia, at the age of 65.

On Thursday, the family spoke out for the first time since then.

“Thank you for honouring our extraordinary father’s memory,” they said in a statement to People magazine.

“We are so proud of him and honoured to see his legacy celebrated,.

“At this time, we would like to grieve privately.”

Kilmer last public appearance was years ago – with his daughter at an actors’ gala in Hollywood in 2019.

One of his last roles was also alongside her, with the duo starring in 2020 film Paydirt. He also had leading roles in hits such as The Doors, Heat, Tombstone and Batman Forever.

But it was as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in the original Top Gun, opposite Cruise as Pet “Maverick” Mitchell, that Kilmer remained most famous.

“I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer, for a moment,” Cruise, 62, began to applause during an appearance at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday (local time).

“I can’t tell you how much I admired his work.”

The star, who was in Las Vegas to promote the next instalment of his Mission Impossible franchise, asked the audience to join him in a moment of silence.

“If we just all take a moment to remember the wonderful time we had with him – let’s just take a moment,” he said.

“Thank you, Val. I wish you well on your next journey. Thank you all for doing that. I know he appreciates it.”

Other Hollywood names have also paid tribute to Kilmer, including Heat director Michael Mann.

“While working with Val on Heat, I always marvelled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val’s possessing and expressing character. After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news,” he said.

Author Don Winslow said Kilmer was “a brilliant actor and a good man”, while actor Matthew Modine said he was only cast in Full Metal Jacket because of a chance meeting at a Hollywood restaurant in 1985.

Josh Brolin, star of American Gangster and the Goonies, also paid tribute.

“See ya, pal. I’m going to miss you. You were a smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker. There’s not a lot left of those. I hope to see you up there in the heavens when I eventually get there. Until then, amazing memories, lovely thoughts,” he wrote.

Kilmer also starred in director Ron Howard’s fantasy Willow (1988), where he met his British co-star Joanne Whalley. The pair later married, having Mercedes and son Jack, who is also an actor.

-with AAP