Violinist and cellist, singer, actor, composer and songwriter ("Shame On You"), conductor, arranger and inventor who popularized western swing music on film and recordings, in person and on radio and television. When Spade was four, he and his parents John and Emma Cooley moved to Oregon where he studied classical violin and cello, and at the age ...
November 23, 1969, Vacaville, California, United States
Place Of Birth
Grand, Oklahoma, USA
Profession
Actor, Soundtrack, Producer
Nationality
American
Spouse
Ella Mae Evans (m. ?–1961)
Children
John Cooley, Melody Cooley, Donnell Jr. Cooley
Albums
Remember, King Of Western Swing, Vol. 1
Movies
Sheriff of Tombstone, Everybody's Dancin', Border Outlaws, Silver Bandit, The Kid from Gower Gulch
Star Sign
Sagittarius
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Quote
1
Playing the fiddle was as much a part of my life as breathing. I was knee-high to a stump and playing the fiddle, and my daddy played the fiddle and so did my granddad before him. So I came by it naturally, and later on I got it in my head to just flat quit schooling, the idea to be making money because being born poor and staying poor and being satisfied with it wasn't how I saw living out the rest of my natural life.
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Fact
1
During his incarceration at the California State Prison in Vacaville, he used to offer hand-made guitars as a prize for the institution's Facility Employees Benefit Association. The contest was to guess the amount of the first day's take in sales from an annual Prison Art Show. One year, because he was tired of all the work it took to create a working guitar, he decided to paint his one-and-only painting, "Trio with Harmonica". The painting was won by a sergeant on the correctional staff, who has since passed away. The painting is in the possession of his son.
2
Upon his death, his remains were interred at the Chapel of the Chimes Memorial Park in Hayward, Alameda County, California.
3
He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Radio at 6802 Hollywood Blvd.
He was convicted of murdering his second wife Ella Mae over alleged infidelities--they had an argument and he beat her to death. The murder happened on April 3, 1961 in front of his 14-year-old daughter Melody. He was sentenced to life in prison. He was furloughed in 1969 to appear at a police benefit show. While waiting backstage to come on, he had a sudden heart attack and died.
7
He was a stand in for Roy Rogers and often performed in bit parts in those films.
8
His first hit song "Shame, Shame on You", became his theme song. He was dubbed the "King of Western Swing". He was so successful as a singer and musician, he owned two properties in southern California and a yacht.
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Big Tip Off
1955
Spade
Casa Manana
1951
Bandleader
Border Outlaws
1950
Spade Cooley
Everybody's Dancin'
1950
Spade
The Silver Bandit
1950
Spade Cooley
The Kid from Gower Gulch
1950
Spade Cooley
Square Dance Jubilee
1949
Spade Cooley
Vacation Days
1947
Spade Cooley
Tumbleweed Tempo
1946
Short
Spade Cooley
Texas Panhandle
1945
Band Leader Spade
The Trouble with Me
1945
Short
Leader, Spade Cooley's Western Dance Gang
My Chickashay Gal
1945
Short
Band Leader
Senorita from the West
1945
Bandleader
Outlaws of the Rockies
1945
Singer Spade
Rockin' in the Rockies
1945
Spade Cooley (as Spade Cooley King of Western Swing)
The Singing Sheriff
1944
Spade Cooley (uncredited)
Take Me Back to Tulsa
1944
Short
Vocalist-Fiddler
Chatterbox
1943
Band Leader / Fiddle Player
Dawn on the Great Divide
1942
Fiddler (uncredited)
Lost Canyon
1942
Fiddle Player (uncredited)
Strictly in the Groove
1942
Fiddler (uncredited)
Heart of the Golden West
1942
Rustler (uncredited)
Thundering Hoofs
1942
Fiddler (uncredited)
Romance on the Range
1942
Townsman (uncredited)
Home in Wyomin'
1942
1st Fiddler (uncredited)
Cactus Capers
1942
Short
Fiddle Player (uncredited)
Sunset on the Desert
1942
Musician (uncredited)
Riding the Wind
1942
1st Fiddler (uncredited)
South of Santa Fe
1942
Jim Clancy (uncredited)
North to the Klondike
1942
Fiddle Player (uncredited)
Man from Cheyenne
1942
Cowhand (uncredited)
Bad Man of Deadwood
1941
Musician (uncredited)
Nevada City
1941
Musician (uncredited)
Saddlemates
1941
Fiddle Player (uncredited)
Sheriff of Tombstone
1941
Fiddle Player (uncredited)
Redskins and Redheads
1941
Short
Fiddle Player
In Old Cheyenne
1941
Cowhand / Musician (uncredited)
Robin Hood of the Pecos
1941
Soldier (uncredited)
Wyoming Wildcat
1941
Dance Musician (uncredited)
The Border Legion
1940
Musician (uncredited)
Melody Ranch
1940
Melody Ranch Band Musician (uncredited)
Young Bill Hickok
1940
Musician (uncredited)
Colorado
1940
Henchman (uncredited)
The Ranger and the Lady
1940
Bent's Banjoist (uncredited)
You're Not So Tough
1940
Fiddle Player (uncredited)
Bullet Code
1940
Fiddler (uncredited)
Destry Rides Again
1939
Fiddle Player (uncredited)
The Marshal of Mesa City
1939
Fiddler (uncredited)
The Arizona Kid
1939
Union Soldier (uncredited)
Frontier Pony Express
1939
Charley Weston (uncredited)
Southward Ho
1939
Fiddler (uncredited)
Land of Fighting Men
1938
Member, Walt Shrum and His Colorado Hillbillies (uncredited)
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
I Saw the Light
2015
performer: "A Pair of Broken Hearts"
The Marty Stuart Show
2013
TV Series writer - 1 episode
42
2013
performer: "Shame On You" / writer: "Shame On You" - as Donnell Clyde Cooley, Jr.
The Killer Inside Me
2010
performer: "Shame on You" / writer: "Shame on You" - as Donnell Clyde Cooley
Pollock
2000
performer: "The Honey Song"
Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The Early Years (1955-1970)
2000
TV Movie documentary writer: "Crazy Cause I Love You"
The Straight Story
1999
writer: "Y'Ready"
Shindig!
1965
TV Series writer - 1 episode
Sing Boy Sing
1958
writer: "Crazy 'Cause I Love You"
Border Outlaws
1950
performer: "Quiero Mas"
Everybody's Dancin'
1950
writer: "Shame on You", "Wake Up, Susan", "Tennessee Wagoner", "You've Got Me Wrapped Around Your Finger"
The Silver Bandit
1950
performer: "Shame, Shame on You", "My Cherokee", "Adios, My Love"
The Kid from Gower Gulch
1950
performer: "There Are Tears in My Heart, O My Darlin'"
Square Dance Jubilee
1949
performer: "Shame, Shame On You", "I Came Here To Be Went With", "It's Dark Outside", "You've Got Me Wrapped Around Your Finger", "Tennessee Wagoner", "Ida Red"
Trail to San Antone
1947
writer: "Shame on You"
Vacation Days
1947
performer: "Devil's Dream"
Texas Panhandle
1945
performer: "Take Me Back to Tulsa", "Shame, Shame on You", "Trail That Brings Me Back to You"
Shame on You
1945
Short performer: "Shame on You" / writer: "Shame on You"
Senorita from the West
1945
performer: "Loo-Loo From Louisiana", "Devil's Dream", "Fox Trot For Dancing"
Riders of the Dawn
1945
writer: "Shame on You"
Outlaws of the Rockies
1945
writer: "Do Ya or Don'tcha?"
Spade Cooley: King of Western Swing
1945
Short performer: "Who Killed the Goose", "The Trouble with Me", "Turkey in the Straw", "Steel Guitar Rag" - uncredited / writer: "Who Killed the Goose", "The Trouble with Me", "Tennessee Wagoner", "Topeka Polka" - uncredited
Sheriff of Tombstone
1941
performer: "Two-Gun Pete"
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Spade Cooley Show
1958
TV Series producer - 1 episode
Everybody's Dancin'
1950
associate producer
The Silver Bandit
1950
producer
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Everybody's Dancin'
1950
original story
Music Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Big Tip Off
1955
composer: song "You've Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger"
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Spade Cooley Show
1957-1958
TV Series
Himself - Host
The Spike Jones Show
1957
TV Series
Himself
The Hoffman Hayride
1953
TV Series
Himself - Host
Spade Cooley and His Orchestra
1949
Short
Himself
Spade Cooley Band
1945
Short
Himself
Shame on You
1945
Short
Himself / Fiddler / Group Leader
Spade Cooley: King of Western Swing
1945
Short
Himself
I Love to Yodel
1944
Short
Himself
My Wubba Dolly
1944
Short
Himself
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Tabloid
2015
TV Series documentary
Himself
KTLA at 40: A Celebration of Los Angeles Television
$400,000
