John 'Dusty' King

John King
King in Half a Sinner (1940)
Born	Miller McLeod Everson (1909-07-11)July 11, 1909 Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Died	November 11, 1987(1987-11-11) (aged 78) San Diego, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1935–1946

John 'Dusty' King (born Miller McLeod Everson, July 11, 1909 – November 11, 1987) was a singer and film actor renowned for his Westerns particularly the Range Busters series.

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Biography

Everson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati, Everson travelled the country working a variety of jobs, such as chauffeuring motorcars from Detroit to Cincinnati, lumberjacking in New Mexico, and working as a ranch hand in Arizona.^[1]

Everson found himself a radio announcing job in Covington, Kentucky then returned to Cincinnati where he announced, hosted, and sang. Hearing him on the radio, bandleader Ben Bernie hired him as a singer with Everson changing his name to John King. Noting his good looks and popularity, Bernie recommended him to Hollywood with Zeppo Marx also agreeing with Bernie.^[1]

Hollywood

King was contracted to Universal Pictures making several films and playing the lead in the serial Ace Drummond. He made appearances in films for other studios before being hired by Monogram Pictures to play the lead in a Cinecolor Western, The Gentleman from Arizona in 1939. The following year King would play "Dusty" in the Range Busters series of Westerns.

The Range Busters were Monogram's version of Republic Pictures' The Three Mesquiteers. King played the singing cowboy alongside of Ray "Crash" Corrigan who was later replaced by David Sharpe and comedy relief Max Terhune with his dummy Elmer for a total of 18 films in the series.

In Haunted Ranch (1943), Sharpe leaves the trio to enlist in the US Army in the Spanish–American War. Not only did Sharpe actually enlist in the US Army Air Forces but King himself was drafted in the USAAF serving in Special Services in Arizona.

After discharge there were no film offers, so King returned to radio, later buying a station. He later left the radio industry to run a waffle shop in La Jolla, California.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1935	Stolen Harmony	Fagin in Skit	Uncredited
1935	The Affair of Susan	Boy in Fun House	Uncredited
1935	His Night Out	Salesman	Uncredited
1935	Three Kids and a Queen	Reporter	Uncredited
1935	Fighting Youth	Singing Band Leader
1936	The Adventures of Frank Merriwell	Bruce Browning	Serial
1936	Next Time We Love	Juvenile	Uncredited
1936	Dangerous Waters	Singing Sailor
1936	Sutter's Gold	Alvarado Jr.	Uncredited
1936	Love Before Breakfast	Johnny	Uncredited
1936	Nobody's Fool	Master of Ceremonies	Uncredited
1936	Crash Donovan	Johnny Allen
1936	Postal Inspector	Ralph	Uncredited
1936	Ace Drummond	Ace Drummond	Serial
1936	Three Smart Girls	Bill Evans
1937	The Road Back	Ernst
1937	Merry-Go-Round of 1938	Tony Townsend
1938	The Crime of Doctor Hallet	Dr. Philip Saunders
1938	State Police	Sgt. Dan Prescott
1938	Breaking the Ice	Henry Johnson
1938	Sharpshooters	Prince Alexis
1938	Charlie Chan in Honolulu	Randolph
1939	The Three Musketeers	Aramis
1939	Inside Story	Paul Randall
1939	The Hardys Ride High	Philip 'Phil' Westcott
1939	Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation	Howard Stevens
1939	The Gentleman from Arizona	Pokey Sanders
1940	Midnight Limited	Val Lennon
1940	Half a Sinner	Larry Cameron
1940	The Range Busters	'Dusty' King
1940	Trailing Double Trouble
1940	West of Pinto Basin
1940	Blame It on Love	Jeff Wadsworth
1941	Trail of the Silver Spurs	Dusty King
1941	The Kid's Last Ride
1941	Tumbledown Ranch in Arizona
1941	Wrangler's Roost
1941	Fugitive Valley
1941	Saddle Mountain Roundup
1941	Tonto Basin Outlaws
1941	Underground Rustlers
1942	Thunder River Feud
1942	Law of the Jungle	Larry Mason
1942	Rock River Renegades	Dusty King
1942	Boot Hill Bandits
1942	Texas Trouble Shooters
1942	Arizona Stage Coach
1942	Texas to Bataan
1942	Trail Riders
1943	Two Fisted Justice
1943	Haunted Ranch	Dusty King posing as Hank Travers
1946	Renegade Girl	Cpl. Brown	(final film role)