Toukie Smith Dies at 74: Model, ‘227’ Actress, De Niro’s Ex
Toukie Smith, the model and actress who starred in the NBC sitcom 227, died November 4 in a New York hospital at 74 after a long battle with multiple sclerosis. Her twins with Robert De Niro, Airyn and Julian, announced her death.
Toukie Smith, the model and actress who starred in the NBC sitcom 227 and was the mother of two of Robert De Niro's children, died November 4 at a New York hospital. She was 74.
Her twin children, Airyn and Julian, announced the death. They said she died after a "long, courageous battle" with multiple sclerosis.
From the runway to television
Born Doris Smith on September 25, 1952, in Philadelphia, she took the stage name Toukie from her grandmother. In a February 1990 interview, she explained its origin: "It was a nickname my grandmother gave me that came from a children's record about a little red fire engine with lots of energy. I've always had lots of energy."
She attended the Fashion Institute of Technology. By 1972 she was modeling for magazines including Vogue and Ebony, and for designers such as Hubert de Givenchy, Thierry Mugler and Issey Miyake.
She also modeled for her brother, the designer Willi Smith, who died in 1987 of complications from AIDS at 39. She told the same newspaper she kept everything he made for her, "from my sixth-grade graduation dress on." She hoped to open a fashion museum to display her archives.
Bloomingdale's named her its model of the year in 1978.
Acting and a restaurant
Her acting career took off in the late 1980s. She appeared in several episodes of season 4 of NBC's Miami Vice as Angie, the wife of Don Johnson's character, Sonny Crockett.
In 1989 she joined 227 as Eva, alongside Marla Gibbs. The sitcom aired from 1985 to 1990. Her film credits in the 1990s included Talkin' Dirty After Dark, I Like It Like That and The Preacher's Wife.
Away from the camera, she opened an eponymous restaurant on New York City's West Houston Street.
Family and private life
Smith became a mother on October 20, 1995, when she and De Niro welcomed their children via surrogate. That followed the actor's divorce from Diahnne Abbott.
The couple began dating in 1988. Their relationship was reportedly on and off, with a split in 1994 before they got back together.
Asked about the relationship in 1990, Smith declined to share details. "What's great about a private life is it's private," she said.
