Who is Toukie Smith?

Toukie Smith is a well-known American actress and model. Born Doris A. Smith, she gained popularity for playing the role of Eva Rawley on the NBC sitcom 227.

Toukie Smith has worked as a model for many high fashion brands, including Chanel, Versace, Geoffrey Beene, Issey Miyake, Norma Kamali, Thierry Mugler, and Patrick Kelly.

In addition, Toukie Smith has acted in many TV shows and movies, such as Talkin’ Dirty After Dark, Joe’s Apartment, and The Preacher’s Wife.

Toukie Smith is also the ex-girlfriend of Academy Award-winning actor Robert De Niro.

Quick Facts

Toukie Smith Birthday

Toukie Smith was born on September 25, 1952. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Currently, she is 69 years old.

Early Life and Parents

Toukie Smith is the daughter of Willie Lee Smith, an ironworker, and June Eileen Smith, a homemaker.  June Eileen Smith previously worked at a factory.

She died in 1986 due to liver cirrhosis since she was a lifelong alcoholic. Toukie’s father, Willie Lee Smith, was a butcher before he started working as an ironworker. 

Her grandmother worked as a housekeeper for a family with close ties with designer Arnold Scaasi. Toukie Smith was named by her grandmother, who often sang her a song about a fire engine with a lot of energy.

Siblings

Toukie Smith’s brother is the renowned fashion designer Willi Smith.

She also has another brother named Norman Smith. Often considered one of the most successful African-American fashion designers, Willi Smith launched his brand, WilliWear Limited, in 1976. 

WilliWear Limited had successfully grossed over $25 million in sales by 1986. Regarded as the first clothing brand to produce womenswear and menswear under the same label, WilliWear Limited was known for its accessibility and affordability. 

Willi Smith was admitted to Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City on April 16, 1987, after contracting Shigella and pneumonia. On April 17, 1987, the legendary fashion designer died of pneumonia complicated by Shigella. 

It was later revealed by Willi Smith’s lawyer, Edward Hayes, that the iconic designer’s death was due to AIDS. However, Smith was unaware of the disease and had shown no symptoms. He came to know that he was HIV Positive only after he was hospitalized. 

Toukie Smith Career

Toukie Smith, who attended the Fashion Institute of Technology, started her modeling career in 1972. She worked as a model for several high-profile brands such as Chanel, Versace, Geoffrey Beene, Issey Miyake, Norma Kamali, Thierry Mugler, and Patrick Kelly. Moreover, Toukie also worked as a model for her brother Willi Smith’s massively successful fashion brand WilliWear Limited.

Besides this, Toukie Smith also had a successful career in print modeling. She was featured in a  photo campaign for Yves St. Laurent.

In addition, Toukie Smith has appeared in many high fashion magazines, including Vogue, ELLE, Ebony, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, and Seventeen. 

Named Bloomingdale’s Model of the Year in 1978, Toukie Smith became the second African–American model to have a mannequin designed like herself.

Besides her successful stint as a model, Toukie Smith has also acted in many TV shows and movies. Her most well-known role to date is that of Eva Rawley on the NBC sitcom 227. 

She has also acted in Miami Vice, Me and Him, Talkin’ Dirty After Dark, and I Like It Like That. Likewise, her other acting credits include Joe’s Apartment, The Preacher’s Wife, and Goosed. 

Additionally, Toukie Smith also opened a restaurant in the West Village neighborhood of New York City called Toukie’s. Smith eventually retired from her acting and modeling career and began living a quiet life in  Battery Park City, New York. 

Relationships and Kids

Toukie Smith dated Academy Award-winning actor Robert De Niro from 1985 to 1996. The pair welcomed their twin sons, Aaron Kendrick and Julian Henry, conceived by in vitro fertilization in 1995 via a surrogate.

Before the birth of Aaron and Julian, Robert De Niro and Toukie Smith had lost their baby. Toukie Smith suffered a miscarriage around the time of her brother, Willi Smith’s death. 

Following this, Toukie Smith began seeing a therapist. She said,

“I went to a therapist… you have to get it out so that it doesn’t eat you up inside.”

After over a decade together, Toukie Smith and Robert De Niro called off their relationship. The notoriously private couple did not disclose the reasons behind their split. However, they continue to remain amicable and try their best to be good co-parents to their twin sons. 

Who is Toukie Smith’s ex-partner Robert De Niro?

Born August 17, 1943, Robert De Niro is an actor and producer who has been honored with various accolades throughout his career, including two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. De Niro has collaborated nine times with filmmaker Martin Scorsese.

A recipient of the Kennedy Center Honor and a Presidential Medal of Freedom, Robert De Niro was born in Manhattan in New York City to parents Virginia Admiral and Robert De Niro Sr. In 1968, De Niro had his first major role in Greetings. 

Educated at HB Studio, Stella Adler Conservatory, and Lee Strasberg’s Actors Studio, De Niro rose to prominence following his performance in the 1973 sports drama Bang the Drum Slowly. In 1973, De Niro worked on Mean Streets with Martin Scorsese for the first time. His role as a small-time NYC crook “Johnny Boy” in the movie received critical acclaim. 

De Niro’s performance as young Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II pushed him to stardom and also won him his first Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. Moreover, De Niro was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his roles in Taxi Driver and The Deer Hunter.

In 1980, De Niro was honored with the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Jake LaMotta in Martin Scorsese’s biographical drama Raging Bull. In 1982, De Niro played the role of a stand-up comedian in The King of Comedy. 

His work in 1900, Once Upon a Time in America, Brazil, The Mission, and Midnight Run pushed him to further acclaim. De Niro was widely praised for his performances in Goodfellas, Awakenings, and Cape Fear film.

In 1993, De Niro directed his first feature film, A Bronx Tale. Then, he acted in the crime movie “Heat and Casino” in 1995.

In 1989, De Niro and producer Jane Rosenthal started the film and television production company TriBeCa Productions. The duo founded the Tribeca Film Festival in 2002. 

De Niro also forayed into playing comedic roles in films such as Wag the Dog, Analyze This, and Meet the Parents. After a string of several box office duds, De Niro was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2012. De Niro received the nomination for his performance in the romantic comedy Silver Linings Playbook.

In 2017, De Niro was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his role as Bernie Madoff in The Wizard of Lies. De Niro acted in the psychological thriller Joker and the crime epic The Irishman in 2019.

Robert De Niro Relationships

Before Robert De Niro’s decade-long romance with Toukie Smith, the Silver Linings Playbook star married actress Diahnne Abbott. After tying the knot in 1976, Abbott and De Niro welcomed a son named Raphael. 

Likewise, De Niro also adopted Abbott’s daughter Drena. After Abbott and De Niro’s divorce in 1988, De Niro and Toukie Smith started dating. They dated from 1988 to 1996 and welcomed twin sons, Julian and Aaron Kendrick De Niro.

After his split with Toukie Smith, De Niro married Grace Hightower in 1997. Their son Elliot was born in 1998, and the couple went their separate ways a year later. 

However, since their divorce was never finalized, De Niro and Hightower managed to rekindle their relationship, and in 2004 they renewed their vows. They welcomed their daughter, born via surrogate, in December 2011. In 2018, Hightower and De Niro separated after 20 years of marriage.

Toukie Smith Net worth

As of 2022, Toukie Smith has an estimated net worth of approximately 3 million USD. Toukie has accumulated such impressive earnings due to her successful career as a model and actress. Owing to this, Toukie Smith leads a lavish lifestyle that most can only dream of. 

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