Cooley, Spade, 1910-1969
Variant namesDonnell Clyde "Spade" Cooley (December 17, 1910 – November 23, 1969) was an American convicted murderer and former Western swing musician, big band leader, actor, and television personality. In 1961 he was arrested and convicted for the April 1961 murder of his second wife, Ella Mae Evans.
On August 5, 1968, the California State Adult Authority voted unanimously to parole Cooley on February 22, 1970. He had served less than nine years of a life sentence and was in poor health from heart trouble.
On November 23, 1969, he received a 72-hour furlough from the prison hospital unit at Vacaville to play a benefit concert for the Deputy Sheriffs Association of Alameda County at the Oakland Auditorium (now known as the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center) in Oakland. During the intermission, after a standing ovation, Cooley suffered a fatal heart attack backstage.
| Role | Title | Holding Repository | |
|---|---|---|---|
| referencedIn | Jesse Austin Morris Collection | Center for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee State University | |
| referencedIn | Southern Folklife Collection song folios, circa 1882-1983. | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | |
| referencedIn | Sons of the Pioneers. Sons of the Pioneers transcription discs collection, | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | |
| referencedIn | Southern Folklife Collection Artist Name File, 1940-2005 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection. | |
| referencedIn | Southern Folklife Collection artist name files, 1940-2005 (artists A-C). | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | |
| referencedIn | Southern Folklife Collection transcription discs, 1940-1968. | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | |
| referencedIn | Nicolas Slonimsky Collection, 1873-1997, (bulk 1920-1990) | Library of Congress. Music Division |
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| Relation | Name | |
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| associatedWith | Brown, Milton | person |
| associatedWith | Slonimsky, Nicolas, 1894-1995 | person |
| associatedWith | Sons of the Pioneers. | corporateBody |
| associatedWith | U.S. Indian School (Chemawa, Salem, Or.) | corporateBody |
| associatedWith | Wills, Bob, 1905-1975 | person |
| Place Name | Admin Code | Country | |
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| Oklahoma | OK | US | |
| Oakland | CA | US |
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| Occupation |
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| Singers |
| Bandleader |
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Person
Birth 1910-12-17
Death 1969-11-23
Americans
