Recently, actor Val Kilmer (https://nypost.com/2025/04/02/entertainment/val-kilmer-batman-actor-dead-at-65/) died, and it reminded me of what I thought was one of the greatest roles he played in his depiction of Doc Holliday in the movie Tombstone in 1993. I know he has portrayed some great characters, such as Iceman in Top Gun, Batman in Batman Forever, and also Jim Morrison in the movie The Doors. Still, I think his portrayal of Doc Holliday, who was dying of tuberculosis in the movie Tombstone, was his greatest acting performance.
Doc Holliday is perhaps the most famous dentist who was also a gambler and gunfighter. He is most famous for his role in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. Although he has a reputation for having killed between 12 to 20 men, it can only be proven that he killed up to three men. He had graduated from the University of Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in 1872 at the age of 20. Shortly after graduating from dental school, he practiced in St. Louis before relocating to Atlanta. Soon afterwards, he was diagnosed with Tuberculosis, a disease that killed his Mom and also his older sister previously.
Due to this disease, he moved out west to Dalas, Texas where he entered the Dallas County Fair and won awards in “Best set of artificial teeth (Dentures)”, “Best set of teeth in Gold” and “Best in vulcanized rubber”, so he was pretty good at his initial profession. He moved to many areas of the Midwest, and in 1879, he wound up moving to Tombstone, Arizona, as it was a booming silver mining town (the mine was/is actually below the streets and where the famous shootout took place). On October 26, 1881 was when the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral took place, in which he may have been the deputy as appointed by Wyatt Earp, who killed both Tom McLaury and his brother Frank, though there is some debate.
Though an accomplished dentist, he found it was more profitable to become a gambler, as one of the reasons he quit dentistry, that other being his coughing, selling to the disease, did not go well with attracting patients. He died at age 36 of the disease.
Today, if you go to Tombstone, Arizona, they do a reenactment in the town of the events of this famous gunfight and you can tour the town as well as the silver mine below it.
One interesting tidbit I found is that one of his relatives claims his last name was really Halliday but his “a” was misread as an “o” early in his adulthood due to penmanship issues, as most doctors are noted for to this day. Here are some photos from my trip visiting Tombstone a few years ago, including the reenactment of the famous gunfight as well as a photo of him.
