Toukie Smith former partner of Robert De Niro is dead aged 74

Actress and model Toukie Smith has died at the age of 74, her heartbroken family have confirmed.

Smith’s children Airyn and Julian, who she shared with ex-partner Robert De Niro, confirmed the news in a statement, saying she died after a ‘long, courageous battle’ with multiple sclerosis.

“Toukie was a force of nature,” her children said in a statement shared with Deadline.

“She left an indelible mark on our hearts and on everyone lucky enough to know her.”

She passed away on Wednesday 4 November at a hospital in New York, the family said.

Smith was best-known for her role as Eva Rawley on the NBC sitcom 227, she also appeared in movies including Joe’s Apartment and The Preacher’s Wife.

Away from the screen, Smith had an impressive modelling career working for some of the biggest names in the industry including such Chanel, Versace Issey Miyake, and Thierry Mugler.

She also modeled for her brother the late fashion designer Willi Smith, who tragically died in 1987 aged just 39.

Paying tribute to her work, her children told the Hollywood Reporter that their mum ‘shared in a remarkable family legacy that helped shape American fashion and culture’ adding that ‘her beauty, grace and unmistakable presence helped pave the way for generations of Black models and designers in fashion.’

In 1988 Smith began a relationship with De Niro with the pair going on to welcome two children born via in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and delivered by a surrogate mother.

The pair were together for almost a decade before going their separate ways in 1996.

The model was born Doris Smith in Philadelphia in 1952 and said she was given the nickname ‘Toukie’ by her grandmother, who would play her a song about a fire truck that had a lot of energy.

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