Top Runway model, '227' actress, dies at 74 after 'long, courageous battle' with MS

Top Runway model, '227' actress Toukie Smith dies at 74 Advertisement Updated: 7:06 AM CST Nov 10, 2026 Editorial Standards ⓘ Caitlyn Scott Digital Producer Top Runway model, '227' actress Toukie Smith dies at 74 Updated: 7:06 AM CST Nov 10, 2026 Editorial Standards ⓘ Caitlyn Scott Digital Producer A top model and actress who appeared on the NBC sitcom "227" has died at the age of 74. Toukie Smith died following a "long, courageous battle" with multiple sclerosis, her twins Airyn and Julian, who she shared with former partner Robert De Niro, announced. Advertisement Smith and De Niro — who began dating in 1988 — welcomed Airyn and Julian in 1995 through a surrogate. The former couple split about a year later, but while they often stepped out together, they rarely shared more insight into their romance. Her children confirmed to E! News and The Hollywood Reporter that Smith died on Nov. 4. Smith attended the Fashion Institute of Technology and began her modeling career in 1972, eventually appearing in a photo campaign for Yves St. Laurent and on the pages of such magazines as Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and Seventeen. In 1978, Bloomingdale's named her its model of the year. She later appeared as Eva Rawley on the Marla Gibbs-starring NBC sitcom " 227 ." In the 1989 show, Smith's character was an artist who moved into the Lexington Place building — whose landlord is Gibbs' Mary Jenkins — and recurred on the comedy during its final two seasons through May 1990. Smith's children said in a statement that their mom "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." The model and actress also appeared on three episodes of NBC's "Miami Vice" as Angie, the assistant to the pop singer Caitlin Davies (Sheena Easton) — and wife of Don Johnson's Sonny Crockett — on the show's fourth season. 'Difficult and heartbreaking': Influencer Liam Fitzgerald dies following motorcycle crash Make WISN a preferred source on Google Add Preferred Source Share Infinite Scroll Enabled Top Picks US Air Force evacuates aircraft from a base in England because of a threat, US official says The US to become first nation to fully shun a UN Human Rights Council review AI-generated political ads spiked in 2026, but campaigns still prioritized other means of messaging FDA adds warning about rare vision loss to popular GLP-1s