Donnell “Spade” Cooley
December 17, 1910 – November 23, 1969
Spade Cooley was a western swing fiddle player, band leader and television personality who came to prominence during the 1940s. Born in Oklahoma, Cooley eventually settled in Southern California where he and his band took up residence in the Venice Pier Ballroom. During the first part of the ’40s, the band performed a then-unheard of run of eighteen months. During that time, Cooley released his first of a string of Top 10 singles, “Shame On You.” By the early ’50s, Cooley was a popular face on film and television as well, appearing in almost forty westerns, and hosting his own television program from 1949 to 1959. His career came to an abrupt end in 1961 when he was convicted of beating his second wife, Ella Mae Evans, to death when she told him she wanted a divorce. After serving eight years of his sentence, Spade Cooley was permitted to perform at a sheriff’s benefit concert on November 23, 1969. Following his set, Cooley suffered a fatal heart attack backstage.
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