Donnell 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. Early life Donnell Clyde Cooley was born in Grand, Oklahoma. Being part Cherokee, he was sent to the Chemawa Indian School in Salem, Oregon, in his youth. In 1930, his family moved to California during the Dust Bowl. It was here that he took the nickname "Spade" after he played a poker game and won three straight flush hands, all in spades. Music career Cooley joined a big band led by Jimmy Wakely which played at the Venice Pier Ballroom in Venice, California, playing fiddle. Several thousand dancers would turn out on Saturday nights to swing and hop: "The hoards (sic) of people and jitterbuggers loved [Cooley]." When Wakely got a movie contract at Universal Pictures, Cooley replaced him as bandleader. To capitalize on the pioneering success of the Bob Wills–Tommy Duncan pairing, Cooley hired vocalist Tex Williams, who was capable of the mellow deep baritone sound made popular by Duncan. Cooley's eighteen-month engagement at the Venice Pier Ballroom was record-breaking for the early half of the 1940s. Cooley wrote and recorded "Shame on You", released by Okeh Records; recorded in December 1944, it was No. 1 on the country charts for two months, while covers of the song by Red Foley with Lawrence Welk, and by Bill Boyd, opened at No. 3 and No. 4 (respectively) on Billboard'''s "Most Played Juke Box Folk Records" chart (the chart which evolved into today's Hot Country chart) for 30 August 1945. Soundies Distributing Corp. of America issued one of their "music video like" film shorts of Cooley's band performing "Shame on You" in the fall of 1945. "Shame on You" was the first in an unbroken string of six Top Ten singles including "Detour" and "You Can't Break My Heart". Cooley appeared in thirty-eight Western films, both in bit parts and as a stand-in for cowboy actor Roy Rogers. Billed as Spade Cooley and His Western Dance Gang, he was featured in the soundie Take Me Back To Tulsa released July 31, 1944, along with Williams and Carolina Cotton. Corrine, Corrina was released August 28, 1944 minus Cotton. The film short Spade Cooley: King of