According to Holliday, he was arrested 17 times, four attempts were made to hang him, and he survived five ambush attempts.

Holliday spent the last years of his life in Colorado, and finally succumbed to tuberculosis in his bed at the Hotel Glenwood at age 36.

As he lay dying, Holliday reportedly asked the nurse attending him for a shot of whiskey. When she told him no, he looked at his bootless feet, amused. The nurses said that his last words were, "This is funny." He always figured he would be killed someday with his boots on.

Tombstone, Arizona's annual Doc Holli-Days event celebrates the gunfighter-dentist on the 2nd weekend of August each year. Events include gunfights, a parade, and a Doc Holliday look-alike contest. Val Kilmer, who played Doc in 1993's Tombstone, was the grand marshal in 2017 and Dennis Quaid, who played Doc in 1994's Wyatt Earp, was the grand marshal in 2018.