A Trailblazing Career in Fashion and Television
Toukie Smith, who rose to prominence as a top runway model in the 1970s before transitioning to a successful acting career on television and film, has died at the age of 74. According to an announcement from her twin sons, Airyn and Julian, Smith passed away on November 4 in a New York hospital following a long battle with multiple sclerosis, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline.
Born Doris Smith in Philadelphia on September 25, 1952, she earned the moniker “Toukie” after her grandmother heard a children’s record about an energetic red fire engine—a quality that would define her dynamic professional life. She attended the Fashion Institute of Technology and broke barriers in the American fashion industry, becoming one of the most visible Black models of her era. In 1978, Bloomingdale’s named her model of the year, cementing a career that saw her work with legendary designers and photographers including Yves St. Laurent, Hubert de Givenchy, Thierry Mugler, Issey Miyake, Patrick Kelly, Antonio Lopez, and Jean-Paul Goude.
Expanding Into Acting and Television
After stepping back from full-time modeling in the early 1980s, Smith established a memorable presence on television. Her early screen credits included a recurring role in three episodes of NBC’s popular cop drama Miami Vice during its 1987–88 season, where she played Angie, the assistant to pop singer Caitlin Davies.
Smith achieved broader television recognition when she joined the Marla Gibbs-led NBC sitcom 227 during its fourth season in 1989. She was promoted to a series regular for the show’s final season in 1989–90, portraying Eva Rawley, an artist who briefly manages the Lexington Place building before working at an art gallery. Across her career, Smith also appeared in several feature films, including Me and Him (1988), Talkin’ Dirty After Dark (1991), I Like It Like That (1994), Joe’s Apartment (1996), and The Preacher’s Wife (1996). In the 1990s, she also ventured into hospitality, operating an eponymous restaurant on West Houston Street in New York City.
Family Legacy and Personal Life
Smith shared a deep connection to the fashion world through her late brother, visionary costume and fashion designer Willi Smith, who died in 1987. Her sons, Airyn and Julian, noted in a public statement that their mother “shared in a remarkable family legacy that helped shape American fashion and culture” and that her presence helped pave the way for subsequent generations of Black models and designers.
From 1988 to 1996, Smith was the partner of actor Robert De Niro, with whom she had her twin sons via in vitro fertilization and a surrogate mother. Remembered by her family as a “force of nature,” Smith is survived by her twin sons, her brother Norman Smith-Harllee, and nephew Eliazar Smith-Harllee.