“I’m your Huckleberry…”
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The late Val Kilmer left his Tombstone co-star Kurt Russell with a poignant parting gift after wrapping the 1993 fan-favorite Western.
In an interview with GQ in January 2024, over a year before Kilmer’s passing on April 1 at the age of 65, Russell shared a candid story from their time working together. After filming the classic western, where they portrayed Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, Kilmer surprised Russell with a unique gesture—a gift of an acre of land.
“When you’re working with people, you’d get them, sometimes at the end of the show, you get them to trade gifts,” Russell told the outlet. “It’s not mandatory, it’s not something that you gotta do or that they’ve gotta do.”
The Bone Tomahawk star revealed he bought Kilmer a burial plot in Boothill Graveyard, the resting place of many Old West legends. Turns out, Kilmer one-upped him by buying an acre of land overlooking Boothill—and then gifted it back to him.
“I give Val this present, and he looks at me, and he turns to his driver and he says, ‘Give it to me.’ Because what I had gotten Val was a plot at Boothill, what Val had gotten me was an acre of land overlooking Boothill,” Russell recalled.
“Doc Holliday was all about death, but Wyatt’s all about life,” the Big Trouble in Little China actor explained. “I guess that pretty much says it all…If you’re asking me if it was great working with Val Kilmer… the answer is absolutely.”
Val Kilmer Also Had High Praise for Kurt Russell
Tombstone hit theaters in December 1993, based on real events from the 1880s in Southeast Arizona, including the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. It follows lawman Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) and gunslinger Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer).
Kilmer titled his memoir I’m Your Huckleberry after the infamous line he delivered as Doc Holliday in Tombstone. His performance as Doc Holliday remains one of the most iconic roles of his long Hollywood career.
In his memoir, Kilmer revealed that he “entitled this tome I’m Your Huckleberry for many reasons. I like the unintentional echo of Huckleberry Finn, which is my favorite novel and features my favorite character. I also realize that the line that I, playing the diseased Doc Holliday, articulated has become iconic.”
He explained that “I’m your huckleberry,” a line his character says to Johnny Ringo in Tombstone before defeating him in a shootout, means “I’m your man. You’ve met your match.”
Kilmer also reflected on the significance of bringing the iconic figure of the American West to life on the silver screen.
“The archetype of the gunslinger, played with a naturalism that only Brando could invoke, is ever present. I could never give up the chance to play such a character. That’s why when I had the chance to play Doc Holliday, I grabbed it,” Kilmer wrote.
“I saw Doc’s situation as dire [and] his action as defiance in the face of death. I loved him.”
Meanwhile, he had high praise for Russell.
“I cherish the experience of working with Kurt, whom I love like a brother,” Kilmer wrote. “When the Academy widens their awards to include something like the lifetime achievement award for Best, Most Unique, Lovely Person for Decades in a Row, if Kurt isn’t the first recipient, I’ll eat my Doc Holliday hat.”