Ruth Lowe

• Name — Ruth Lowe • Born — 12 August 1914 • Birthplace — Toronto, Ontario, Canada • Died — 4 January 1981 • Occupation — Pianist, songwriter • Instrument — Piano

Born in Toronto but raised in Glendale, California, Lowe returned to her birth country of Canada as a young woman and began working as a pianist. In 1936, Lowe was working in the 'Song Shop' in Toronto when Ina Ray Hutton brought her all-female band (the Melodears) to town. Her piano player had taken ill, and Hutton was frantically trying to locate a good-looking blonde lady replacement. Lowe auditioned, and became the regular pianist in Ina Ray's band. At age 23 in 1938, Lowe married Harold Cohen, a Chicago music publicist. It was a happy marriage that only lasted one year until Cohen's death of kidney failure during an operation in 1939. In her deep grief, Lowe returned to live in Toronto. In her apartment, she composed "I'll Never Smile Again".

In 1945, Lowe married Nathan Sandler and the union produced two sons, Tommy and Stephen. Lowe died of cancer in 1981. "I'll Never Smile Again" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1982. In 2020, Until I Smile at You: How One Girl’s Heartbreak Electrified Frank Sinatra’s Fame!, a biography written by Peter Jennings with Tom Sandler, Lowe’s son, was published by Castle Carrington Publishing. In 2021, Ruth's Wonderful Song, a children's book biography by Jennings, was published by Tellwell Talent. in 2022, Canadian writer and filmmaker Jamila Pomeroy optioned and began development of a screen adaptation of Until I Smile at You.