Thirty years after the release of Tombstone, the film’s remarkable cast continues to showcase their creative talents.
In the summer of 1992, screenwriter Kevin Jarre sent a copy of his Western script to Kevin Costner, hoping the high-profile actor would sign on as Wyatt Earp in what would become the hit movie Tombstone.
Costner had his own Earp-inspired project in the works, so he turned down the role and eventually released his own film (and box office flop), Wyatt Earp.
According to John Farkis in The Making of Tombstone, Jarre threw around other names for the main roles — including Michael Douglas, Liam Neeson and even David Bowie — before moving on to Plan B (C?), which, in retrospect, worked out okay.
The final Tombstone cast included a mix of on-camera heavyweights and up-and-coming personalities who embodied the American West as it was in 1880s Tombstone, Arizona.
Veterans of the Western film scene, like Harry Carey Jr. — who worked with legendary director John Ford — acted beside young actors and actresses still looking to make names for themselves in early ’90s Hollywood.
The combination hit all the right tones, and Tombstone’s ensemble, which included more than 60 speaking parts, went down as one of the best Western casts of all-time. And 30 years later, most of the performers are still hard at work pursuing creative paths and ventures.
Here’s a look at where some of the Tombstone cast is today.
1. Kurt Russell (Wyatt Earp)
First, a brief kudos: without Kurt Russell, there’s a good chance Tombstone doesn’t get finished. When Kevin Jarre was removed as the original director of the movie, George P. Cosmatos took his place, but Kurt Russell was often the creative force behind the production. He spent countless hours reworking parts of the script and giving Cosmatos scene lists during film days.
“Kurt Russell ghost-directed Tombstone,” writes Farkis in The Making of Tombstone. “Not only have several cast members vouched for that statement, but Russell himself confirmed it.”
Russell went on to have a long career in film and television, with memorable roles in Escape from L.A. (1996), Miracle (2004), Furious 7 (2015) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017).
To Western film fans, Russell’s remembered for his roles in Bone Tomahawk and The Hateful Eight, a pair of 2015 Westerns that displayed his range of character within the same genre. Bone Tomahawk is an underrated horror-Western hybrid, while The Hateful Eight is a classic Tarantino film with his signature blend of violence and cutting dialogue.
In July 2023, Russell was seen in Oklahoma filming scenes for The Rivals of Amziah King, also starring Matthew McConaughey.
2. Val Kilmer (Doc Holliday)
The past few years have been ones of reflection for Val Kilmer, who began a battle with throat cancer beginning in 2015. Several rounds of chemotherapy and tracheotomies over the years force Kilmer to use a voice-box to speak today.
“The thing is, when I speak now, I sound like Marlon Brando after a couple of bottles of tequila,” writes Kilmer in I’m Your Huckleberry: A Memoir. “It isn’t a frog in my throat. More like a buffalo.”
In 2021, Kilmer and A24 released Val, a personal and often heartbreaking look at his personal life and career, going all the way back to childhood home movies. Between the documentary and memoir — whose title’s based on Doc Holliday’s infamous line — Kilmer’s enjoying a late-career appreciation from his most dedicated fans.
Today, Kilmer is an artist both in traditional and digital media, and runs Kamp Kilmer, an artistic community he calls “a fun sacred space where artists, musicians, muses, collectors, and friends could gather to celebrate creativity.”
Although his acting career may be over, Kilmer did reprise his role as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in Top Gun: Maverick (2022), leading to an emotional reunion with costar Tom Cruise.
3. Sam Elliott (Virgil Earp)
Being in his late 70s hasn’t slowed down Sam Elliott. Case in point: his recent success on 1883, the Yellowstone prequel that stands on its own as one of the best Western miniseries ever.
Few Western actors have more credits to their name, and Elliott, whose first roles came in The Way West (1967) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), has more than 50 years of experience in front of the camera. Aside from Tombstone and 1883, he snagged roles in Gettysburg (1993), We Were Soldiers (2002), and A Star is Born (2018). His television credits include Rough Riders (1997), Parks and Recreation (2013–2015), Justified (2015), The Ranch (2016–2020) and MacGruber (2021).
In a June 2023 interview, Elliott said he’s proud of how 1883 turned out — as well as his career. “I know that at this point in my life, there’s not going to be a better one that’s going to come along than this,” he said of the Taylor Sheridan series. “I feel like on some level, if I quit right now, I will have done what I set out to do when I was 9 years old wanting to be an actor.”
4. Bill Paxton (Morgan Earp)
When Bill Paxton appeared in Tombstone, he already had a number of successful films under his belt, including Stripes (1981), The Terminator (1984) and Aliens (1986). In the years following the iconic Western, Paxton appeared in even more highly rated films like Apollo 13 (1995), Twister (1996), Titanic (1997), and Edge of Tomorrow (2014). He also starred in HBO’s Big Love (2006–11) as Bill Henrickson, the patriarch of an FLDS family.
In early 2017, Paxton underwent open heart surgery to repair damage done to a heart valve when he contracted rheumatic fever as a child. The initial surgery and a follow-up procedure led to complications and ultimately, Paxton’s death. He passed away on February 25, 2017 after suffering a stroke related to “excessive bleeding, cardiogenic shock and a compromised coronary artery.”
His family filed a lawsuit against Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the doctor who performed the procedure; the case was settled out of court in August 2022.
5. Powers Boothe (Curly Bill Brocious)
After Tombstone, Powers Boothe had a long career in genre movies and television series, with appearances in Nixon, Sin City, Deadwood, and Nashville. In Deadwood, Boothe played Cy Tolliver, owner of the Bella Union brothel, a competitor of the Gem Saloon ran by Al Swearengen. On May 14, 2017, Boothe died from complications related to a heart attack and pancreatic cancer. He was buried in Deadwood, Texas.