Spade Cooley

Singer, fiddler, band leader

Born in 1910 in Pack Saddle Creek, Okla.; died in 1969

• Born Donnell Clyde Cooley to an impoverished family; moves to Oregon at age 4

• Family moves to Modesto in 1930; by this time Spade, trained in classical violin and cello, is playing at dances

• Gets established as a movie stand-in for Roy Rogers, whom he resembled, in 1934. He earns his nickname from his prowess at poker

• Starts his own band, becomes a star at the Venice Pier Ballroom near Los Angeles, and lands a recording contract

• His first hit, “Shame, Shame on You,” recorded in the early ‘40’s, becomes his theme song. As a Western Swing star, Cooley now rivals Bob Wills

• Band rises to headliner-status at the prestigious Santa Monica Ballroom. Cooley appears in numerous movies, including “Chatterbox,” “The Singing Bandit,” “The Singing Sheriff,” “Outlaws of the Rockies” and “Texas Panhandle”

• Spade gets his own TV show on KTLA, “The Hoffman Hayride,” named for a sponsoring TV manufacturer, in 1947. The shows attracts 75 percent of the viewing audience throughout the late ‘40s. Ratings eventually dwindle and show goes off the air in the early ‘50s

• Spade, still a popular live performer, tours extensively throughout the mid- and late-50s. He plays at the Blackboard on numerous occasions.

• In July 1961, Spade, living in the Mojave area, attacks his estranged wife, beating and kicking her to death while their 14-year-old daughter watches

• In a sensational trial at the Kern County Courthouse in Bakersfield, Spade is convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison

• His prospects for parole look favorable when in November 1969, thanks to his record of good behavior, Spade is granted leave from Vacaville prison to participate in a benefit concert in Oakland. After a well-received performance, Cooley, 59, goes backstage and suffers a fatal heart attack