Toukie Smith, the model and actress who played Eva Rawley on NBC’s 227, has died at 74. Her children, twins Airyn and Julian De Niro, announced her death on November 9.
Smith died November 4 in a New York hospital after a long illness with multiple sclerosis, according to PEOPLE, citing the family’s statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Toukie was a force of nature,” the siblings said in the statement reproduced by Us Weekly. They credited her with helping create opportunities for Black models and designers, alongside the lasting influence she had on those who knew her personally.
Smith began dating Robert De Niro in 1988, and they welcomed their twins in October 1995. Although the relationship drew attention, she largely kept her family life separate from her public career.
Airyn De Niro Remembers the Mother She Wanted to Emulate
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Airyn, 31, shared a childhood photograph with Smith on Instagram, writing, “I’ll always love you, Mom.” TheGrio reproduced the tribute alongside its report of the family’s announcement.
In an April 2025 interview with Them, Airyn described wanting to emulate her mother’s warmth and the way she interacted with people. Relatives on her father’s side frequently spoke affectionately about Smith and remembered how happy De Niro had been during their relationship. “I want to be remembered the way that people remember her,” Airyn said.
She returned to her mother’s influence in an October interview that year. Smith often wore black with bright touches of red, purple or yellow, a style Airyn had come to appreciate as she explored her own interest in darker fashions.
Smith’s Career Took Her From Fashion Runways to 227
Born Doris A. Smith on September 25, 1952, in Philadelphia, she attended New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology before beginning her modeling career in 1972. Her work included appearances in Vogue, Ebony, Cosmopolitan and Seventeen, and assignments for designers including Hubert de Givenchy, Thierry Mugler and Issey Miyake.
Bloomingdale’s named her its Model of the Year in 1978. She moved into acting during the following decade, appearing in three episodes of Miami Vice as Angie, an assistant to Sheena Easton’s singer character, Caitlin Davies.
Smith joined 227 in 1989, appearing during its final two seasons alongside Marla Gibbs and Regina King. Eva was an artist who moved into the apartment building where the comedy took place and briefly became its manager.
Her film credits included Talkin’ Dirty After Dark, I Like It Like That, Joe’s Apartment and The Preacher’s Wife, as USA TODAY and contemporaneous career accounts documented. “I am an actress first. I’m not a sometime model,” she told The New York Times in 1992, as E! News recalled.
She Helped Build and Preserve Brother Willi Smith’s Work
In 1974, Toukie joined her brother and Harrison Rivera-Terreaux in forming Willi Smith Designs Inc., according to the Cooper Hewitt archive. That short-lived company closed before Willi and business partner Laurie Mallet established WilliWear in 1976.
Toukie also introduced other models to her brother. In an oral history for the museum, Shailah Edmonds recalled meeting her while they worked at fashion shows. Toukie encouraged Edmonds to see Willi, who hired her almost immediately. Edmonds subsequently walked in his shows and represented him at the 1983 Coty American Fashion Critics’ Awards.
Willi died in 1987, and Toukie continued preserving his designs. She told the Los Angeles Times she had kept his clothes since childhood and hoped to open a museum.
His work later became the subject of Willi Smith: Street Couture, presented at Cooper Hewitt from 2020 to 2021. The exhibition examined how his affordable clothing connected with art, film and performance. The museum credited Toukie among the family members, friends and collaborators whose guidance helped make it possible.
Smith Brought Her Personality to a Manhattan Restaurant
Smith also ran a catering business, Toukie’s Taste. By 1994, she had opened Toukie’s on West Houston Street in Manhattan. A contemporary New Yorker profile found her working as owner, host and cook, greeting customers with hugs and kisses.
The dining room had red leather banquettes and a mural featuring her grandmother, Elizabeth Taylor and Dorothy Dandridge. Her enthusiasm for “meeting and greeting and eating, darling” carried into the menu, with dishes named “My My Those Fries” and “Honey That House Salad.” Her survivors also include brother Norman Smith-Harllee and nephew Eliazar Smith-Harllee.