Toukie Smith, ‘227′ actress who had twins with Robert De Niro, dies at 74

Doris “Toukie” Smith, a top model during the 1970s who appeared in the television sitcom “227″ during the late 1980s, died on Nov. 4. She was 74.

Smith died in a New York City hospital after “a long, courageous battle” with multiple sclerosis, according to her twins, Airyn and Julian. She shared the twins with her former partner, two-time Academy Award-winning actor Robert De Niro, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Smith was born in Philadelphia on Sept. 25, 1952, Deadline reported. Her first screen credits came on “Miami Vice,” when she appeared in three episodes during the crime drama’s fourth season (1987-88).

She had a guest role on “227,” which starred Marla Gibbs, during the show’s fourth season but returned as a regular for the final season (1989-90), the entertainment news outlet reported. Her character, Eva Rawley, was the manager at 227 Lexington Place before leaving to work at an art gallery, Deadline reported.

Smith modeled for her brother, fashion designer Willi Smith, along with Hubert de Givenchy, Thierry Mugler, Issey Miyake and Patrick Kelly, illustrators Alvaro and Antonio Lopez and photographers Jean-Paul Goude and Guy Bourdin, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Smith attended the Fashion Institute of Technology and began her modeling career in 1972, the entertainment news website reported. She would appear in magazines such as Vogue, Ebony, Cosmopolitan, Redbook and Seventeen. In 1978, Bloomingdale’s named her its model of the year, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Smith said she got her nickname from her grandmother, who called her Toukie after listening to “a children’s record about a little red fire engine with lots of energy.”

“I’ve always had lots of energy,” she told the Los Angeles Times in 1990.

Smith and De Niro were partners from 1988-96, and their twins were conceived by in vitro fertilization and delivered via surrogate, Deadline reported.

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