One-time big screen Batman Val Kilmer is reportedly recovering in a Los Angeles hospital after doctors removed a tumor from his throat.

The actor was hospitalized on Monday night (26Jan15) after a family member called emergency services and reported the Top Gun star was bleeding from the throat, according to TMZ.com.

Law enforcement sources tell the website paramedics rushed to his Malibu home in California and took Kilmer to UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, where medics performed surgery.

It's not clear if his health emergency is linked to an issue he battled last year (Oct14), when he told a small claims court judge he was unable to speak because his tongue was swollen during a dispute over his former home.