Toukie Smith, a former runway model and actor best known for her role on the sitcom “227,” has died. She was 74.
Smith died Wednesday after a long battle with multiple sclerosis, according to a statement from her twins, Airyn and Julian De Niro, provided to the Hollywood Reporter.
“Toukie was a force of nature,” they said, per the outlet. “She left an indelible mark on our hearts and on everyone lucky enough to know her.”
Born Doris Smith on Sept. 25, 1952, in Philadelphia, the Fashion Institute of Technology alum began her modeling career in 1972 and worked with top brand designers including Hubert de Givenchy, Chanel, Issey Miyake and Thierry Mugler over the course of her career. She was named “Bloomingdale’s Favorite Model” in 1978.
Toukie “was a nickname my grandmother gave me that came from a children’s record about a little red fire engine with lots of energy,” Smith told The Times in 1990. “I’ve always had lots of energy.”
Smith got her start modeling for her brother, the late designer Willi Smith who, with his WilliWear Ltd., pioneered a whimsical yet accessible style he dubbed “street couture.”
“Willi always had fun with fashion,” Smith said of her brother, who died of complications from AIDS in 1987. “He had a special energy and a love of keeping clothes from being too serious. He also totally designed for the masses.”
Toukie Smith with Sean Penn, left, and Robert De Niro at a celebrity benefit in honor of her late brother Willi Smith on Feb. 26, 1989.
(Adam Stoltman / Associated Press)
In their statement, Airyn and Jordan said their mother “shared in a remarkable family legacy that helped shape American fashion and culture” and that “her beauty, grace and unmistakable presence helped pave the way for generations of Black models and designers in fashion.”
Smiths pivoted to acting in the 1980s and her first screen credits included a few episodes of “Miami Vice” in 1987 and the 1988 feature “Me and Him.”
She then landed the role of Eva Rawley on the Marla Gibbs-led NBC sitcom, “227.” The series, which aired from 1985 to 1990, was notable for the portrayal of its middle-class Black family, the Jenkinses. Eva was introduced during the fourth season as an artist who moves into the show’s central apartment building and becomes the building’s manager. She would eventually leave the job and find work at an art gallery.
Her credits also include the films “Talkin’ Dirty After Dark” (1991), “I Like It Like That” (1994), “Joe’s Apartment” (1996) and “The Preacher’s Wife” (1996).
Smith’s interests also extended to food. She briefly ran a catering business, Toukie’s Taste, which famously provided the food for Sean Penn and Madonna’s wedding anniversary. She also had a restaurant in New York called Toukie’s in the 1990s, which gave a part of its proceeds to the Smith Family Foundation.
She was in a relationship with actor Robert De Niro from 1988 to 1996. The couple welcomed their twins in 1995, who were born via surrogate.
“I’ll always love you, Mom,” Airyn wrote in her tribute shared Monday on Instagram.
Smith is survived by her children, brother Norman Smith-Harllee and nephew Eliazar Smith-Harllee.
