John Henry Holliday, who is better known by his nickname, “Doc,” was an American dentist turned gunslinger and gambler!

At age 21, Holliday earned a degree in dentistry from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery. He set up practice in Atlanta, Georgia, but he was soon diagnosed with tuberculosis, the same disease that had claimed his mother when he was 15. He acquired this terminal illness while tending to her needs during a time when she was still very contagious.

Tuberculosis was very common during that time, and was extremely contagious. It passed between people through tiny droplets released into the air by an infected cough or sneeze. Those infected suffered from chest pain with breathing and coughing, fatigue, night sweats, chills, fever, weight loss because of loss of appetite, and coughing up blood. It was a treacherous disease to ward off, which is why most didn’t survive once infected.

Hoping the climate in the American Southwest would ease his symptoms, he moved to that region. Upon his move, he abandoned his dentistry practice and became a gambler, a reputable profession in that day, especially in the American Southwest.

Over the next few years, he reportedly had several confrontations. Despite his formidable reputation as a deadly gunslinger, Doc Holliday only engaged in eight shootouts during his life, and it has only been verified that he killed two men.

Still, the smartly dressed ex-dentist from Atlanta had a remarkably fearless attitude toward death and danger, maybe because he was slowly dying. To him, perhaps death was inevitable.

In 1879, when Holliday settled in Las Vegas, NM, he opened a saloon with a partner. He spent his evenings gambling in the saloon and he seemed determined to stress his health condition by heavy drinking.

A notorious cad, Holliday also enjoyed the company of the dance hall girls that the partners hired to entertain the customers–which sometimes sparked trouble.

On July 19 of that year, a former army scout named Mike Gordon, who had already drank more than his share of spirits, tried to persuade one of Holliday’s saloon girls to quit her job and run away with him. When she refused, Gordon became infuriated. He went out to the street and began to fire bullets randomly into the saloon. He didn’t have a chance to do much damage–after the second shot, Holliday calmly stepped out of the saloon and dropped Gordon with a single bullet. Gordon died the next day.

Doc Holliday had committed his first murder, however, some would say it was in self-defense and protection of his New Mexico saloon.

The following year, Holliday abandoned the saloon business and joined his old friend Wyatt Earp in Tombstone, Arizona. There he would kill his second victim, during the famous “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” in October 1881. During the subsequent six years, Holliday assisted at several other killings and wounded a number of men in gun battles.

His hard drinking and tuberculosis eventually caught up with him, and he retired to a Colorado health resort where he died in 1887.

Struck by the irony of such a peaceful end to a violent life, his last words reportedly were “This is funny.” And with that, the dentist turned murderer, breathed his last breath.

For a fun take on Doc’s history, check out the movie “Tombstone,” which depicts Wyatt Earp, his brothers, and Doc using their guns to restore order to the lawless land of Tombstone, AZ.

You’ll be glad you did.