Spade Cooley

Donnell Clyde 'Spade' Cooley (1910-1969) was an American western swing musician known for stomping his wife to death in front of their daughter.

Related Topics:
1910 - 1969 - American - Western swing

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Cooley made many b-westerns, usually playing bit parts, and starred in his own syndicated television

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show from 1949 until 1959.

Related Topics:
1949 - 1959

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He would often bill himself as the 'king of western swing'. His sound was closer to conventional dance-oriented pop orchestras than that of Bob Wills or others in the genre, which accounts for his work

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having been more popular with mainstream audiences during his 1940s and 1950s heyday, but

Related Topics:
1940s - 1950s

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at the same time not having enjoyed the continuing popularity of Wills'.

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He died of a heart attack while on temporary release from prison, where he had been serving time for the murder of his second wife, Ella Mae Evans. The state of California had given him the temporary release

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in order to play a benefit concert in Oakland.

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It has been reported that Dennis Quaid plans to make a bio-pic about Cooley along with Katie Holmes who is set to play the doomed Ella Mae.

Related Topics:
Dennis Quaid - Katie Holmes

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