Mary Poole

Short Biography

Smith is married to his long-time partner Mary Theresa Poole (b. 3 October 1958), whom he met in drama class at St. Wilfrid's when he was 14. Smith later revealed that early in his musical career, Mary had not always shared his confidence and vision for The Cure's future, which was a significant motivating factor to his ensuring that the band were successful. It has been reported by the Daily Express that Mary used to be a model, and worked as a nurse with intellectually disabled children, but as The Cure became more financially successful during the mid-1980s Mary gave up her day job so that the couple would not have to spend so much time apart. However, he has also claimed on different occasions that Mary was a stripper, [citation needed] and an Olympic runner.[citation needed] Smith stated more than once that he was regarded within the couple as Mary's boyfriend, rather than Mary as Smith's girlfriend. Smith told The Face that he had once left a video camera running in their home "and after a couple of hours you forget that it's on and I was quite horrified at the amount of rubbish we say to each other. It's like listening to mental people ... I feel more natural in the company of people who are mentally unbalanced because you're always more alert, wondering what they're going to do next..." He claimed that Mary "used to dress as a witch to scare little children", that she sometimes dressed up as Robert Smith in his pyjamas, and that he could never take people home "because I never know who is going to answer the door".[185] While The Cure were recording the Wish album at Shipton Manor, Oxfordshire between 1991 and 1992, among the objects pinned to the wall was "Mary's Manor Mad Chart", listing seventeen members of the Manor's staff and residents (including The Cure and their entourage) "in order of instability". Mary was ranked in second place, after a woman named Louise who worked in the kitchen. "We all voted, " said Smith, "and we had an award night. It was very moving."