Mary Theresa Poole was born on October 3, 1958, in London, United Kingdom. She attended St. Wilfrid Comprehensive School, where she met her future husband and the frontman of The Cure, Robert Smith.
They first connected at age 14 in a drama class when Robert asked Mary to be his partner for a class project. The two hit it off immediately, and shortly began a relationship that would span decades.
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As of 2025, they’ve known each other for over 50 years, of which 37 years have been spent married. This makes them one most enduring relationships in the music industry. Here’s everything we know about Mary Poole.
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Career
In her early career, Mary Poole worked as a model for various fashion magazines. She later transitioned to nursing, dedicating herself to working with intellectually disabled children.
When she married Smith in 1988, she chose to leave her career to support the booming popularity of Smith’s rock band The Cure.
But even as The Cure earned commercial success, Poole prefers to keep herself out of the spotlight. She regularly tours with the band and appears in award shows, but only in support of her husband.
Mary’s Influence On Robert’s Music
Robert Smith has always loved music. He first began learning the guitar at seven years old, and began taking classical guitar lessons from the age of nine. At around 13 years old, he developed an interest in rock music and started to play and learn frenetically.
Poole has always supported Smith’s interest in music, even while they were in their early teens. She would watch him play guitar and sing songs, and encouraged him to participate in school performances.
It isn’t a surprise, then, that Poole became one of Smith’s muses. She has inspired many of The Cure’s iconic songs, including the 1989 hit Love Song which Smith wrote as a wedding gift. The lyrics are heartfelt and full of devotion, with one lyric saying, “However far away, I will always love you.”
When asked how Poole reacted upon receiving the tape, Smith recalled that she went away to the other room to listen to it, then smothered him with kisses. Love Song went on to become one of The Cure’s biggest hits, hitting No. 2 on the Billboard singles chart.
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Smith also dedicated Just Like Heaven to Poole, which also received worldwide acclaim. Poole appears in the music video of the song, and Smith has described it as an ode to their love.
The lyrics, “spinning on that dizzy edge, I kissed her face and kissed her head, and dreamed of all the different ways I had to make her glow,” are widely interpreted as a tribute to Mary and their early days as a couple.
Another song, Pictures of You, was inspired by Smith’s feelings about Mary and the importance of their relationship, particularly after a fire at his studio made him worry about losing cherished photographs of her.
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On November 1, 2024, The Cure released their first album in 16 years. Smith credited his wife for finalizing the ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ tracklist. “I was finishing the doom and gloom ones… and [Mary Poole Smith] said no, no, no, your best albums are the ones that just have a couple of more upbeat tracks,” he said in an interview with Huw Stephens.
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Today, fans all over the world continue to praise Smith’s outstanding songs. And a lot of it is thanks to his long-lasting love for Mary Poole.
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