Spade Cooley

Spade Cooley (Donnell Clyde Cooley, Grand, Oklahoma, December 17, 1910 – Oakland, California, November 23, 1969) was an American, Western Swing fiddler, singer and big band leader and also songwriter, actor, and television personality. His career ended in 1961 when he was arrested and convicted for the murder of his second wife, Ella Mae Evans.

Cooley, being part Cherokee, was sent to the Chemawa Indian School in Salem, Oregon to be educated. Around 1930 his family fled the Dust Bowl for California.

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