Why Doc Holliday Is Always Sweating In Tombstone

Val Kilmer’s hard-drinking Doc Holliday can be seen sweating all throughout the western biopic Tombstone, but there’s a historical reason – and a behind-the-scenes reason – for all the sweat in the movie. Set in Southeast Arizona in the 1880s, Tombstone depicts such real-life historical events as the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and the Earp Vendetta Ride. Kurt Russell leads the cast as notorious gunslinger Wyatt Earp, but Kilmer steals the show with a universally acclaimed portrayal of Holliday. Tombstone was one of the most commercially successful western films released after the genre’s heyday, and has been reappraised as a cult classic in the years since.