Val Kilmer's hard-drinking Dr. Holliday can be seen sweating throughout the western biopic. Tombstonebut all the sweat in the film has a historical reason and a behind-the-scenes reason. Set in Southeast Arizona in the 1880s, Tombstone Depicts real-life historical events such as the Shootout at the OK Corral and the Earp Vendetta Ride. Kurt Russell plays the famous gunslinger Wyatt Earp, however Kilmer steals the film with his universally acclaimed portrayal of Holliday.Tombstone was one of the most commercially successful Westerns released since the genre's heyday, and has since been re-rated as a cult classic.
In TombstoneKilmer nailed Doc Holliday's quick draw and polite Southern accent. Earp and Holliday are just two of the real-life outlaws depicted Tombstone; they appear alongside Johnny Ringo, played by Michael Biehn, and “Curly Bill” Brocius, played by Powers Boothe. But the film primarily focuses on the friendship between Kurt Russell's Earp and Val Kilmer's Holliday. In all his scenes Kilmer's Holliday can be seen sweating profusely. There's not just a historical reason why Holliday sweats so much; this also has a behind-the-scenes explanation.
Dr. Holliday Sweated Profusely at the Tombstone Because He Had Tuberculosis
At that time it was known as consumption
The reason why Dr. Holliday sweats so much Tombstone that when the film was shot, He was suffering from tuberculosis. When Earp is first reunited with his longtime friend Holliday, Holliday seeks refuge in the dry climate of Arizona to fight his worsening tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that usually affects the lungs (but can also affect other parts of the body). Sweating is a common symptom of TB along with fever, chronic cough and weight loss. At that time it was called “consumption,” so called because the disease consumes you to the end; most people who eventually die of consumption are wasted at death.
How Doc Holliday contracted tuberculosis
He probably got it from his mother
In fact, it is almost impossible to say how Doc Holliday contracted tuberculosis. In the mid-1800s, it was not an uncommon disease, and it was (and still is) contagious. As an airborne virus, it can spread through droplets in the air, so anyone with active TB who coughs or sneezes, or even talks, can transmit the disease. Still, as people reacquaint themselves in the age of Covid, prolonged exposure and proximity can make someone more likely to contract it. therefore, it was mostly spread among family members living in the same house.
With that, the most likely explanation Dr. Holliday contracted the disease from his mother. He contracted the disease as a teenager, and died in 1866 when he was 15 or 16 years old. Shortly after, the disease claimed his adopted brother Francisco. So by the time Doc Holliday, still known as John, was in his teens, the disease was still dormant, but already in his body. In his early 20s, shortly before starting his dental practice, he was told he had tuberculosis, and he fled to the warmer, drier climates of the West to slow the progression of the disease.
How Old Was Doc Holliday When He Died Of Tuberculosis
He Lived Longer With Him Than Without Him
This is something that is often misunderstood today Tuberculosis is not necessarily a death sentence, nor was it in Doc Holliday's time. With a warmer, drier climate and remission of the disease, a person can live for years or even decades before succumbing. Holliday was one of those cases, living into his 30s for nearly two decades before the disease returned for the last time and eventually claimed his life. By 1887, six years after the shootout at the OK Corral in 1881, Doc's health failed and he checked himself into a sanatorium in Glenwood Springs. The hospital specialized in the treatment of tuberculosis, but after decades of hard living, Doc's disease was too advanced for successful treatment.
Leaving his tombstone, Doc Holliday eventually died of tuberculosis in his bed at the Hotel Glenwood in Glenwood Springs, CO at the age of 36. Doc Holliday's last words were reported.This is funny.” He had always imagined that he would die in his boots, in a skirmish and in a blaze of glory, so the darkly humorous irony of him slowly dying in bed, bootless, did not escape him. His last words confirmed that even as the disease ravaged his body, Dr. Holliday retained his trademark quick wit and sardonic sense of humor to the end.
tombstone'
pp. Doc Holliday
The real Doc stuck to Holliday's last words: ”
I'll be damned. This is funny.
”
There was another reason why Val Kilmer was sweating so hard on his tombstone
The Arizona Sun Is Not Forgiving
There might have been a good reason for Kilmer's characteristic sweating Tombstone scenes, but it was also unavoidable due to the sweltering heat of the Arizona filming locations. The cast didn't just bask in the Arizona sunshine; they were forced to wear period-appropriate woolen suits which were unbearably uncomfortable in the hot weather (via CinemaBlend). The gunslingers looked like they were from the 1880s, but that was at the expense of the actors' comfort.
Although the heat and uncomfortable costumes helped Kilmer portray a man dying of tuberculosis, the actor was not too happy with the conditions. He made a joke of it The reason Holliday and his cronies killed so many people on the border is because he was wearing those clothes in that heat. according to Tombstone The set thermometer reached 134 degrees Fahrenheit on set. Dealing with that kind of heat helped Kilmer understand why Holliday was eventually ruled.crazy” in real life.
Source: CinemaBlend