American model and actress Toukie Smith has died at the age of 75, confirmed by her twins Airyn and Julian De Niro. Smith died on Wednesday, 4 November, in a New York hospital after a long battle with multiple sclerosis.
Airyn De Niro shared a past photograph of the two of them with the message: "I will always love you, mama." The same photo was shared on an Instagram Story with the message: "Rest in peace, mama."
Toukie Smith was born Doris Smith, and the nickname by which she became famous was given to her by her grandmother. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 1990, she recounted how her grandmother found inspiration in a children's plate depicting a small red fire engine full of energy. "I have always had a lot of energy," Smith recalled at the time.
She began her modelling career in 1972 while studying at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. During her career, she worked with designers and fashion houses including Yves Saint Laurent, Givenchy, Thierry Mugler, Issey Miyake and Patrick Kelly. She also wore creations by her older brother, fashion designer Willie Smith, who died in 1987 at the age of 39 from complications related to AIDS. Her photographs graced the pages of magazines such as Vogue, Ebony, Cosmopolitan, Redbook and Seventeen, and in 1978, the department store Bloomingdale's named her model of the year.
In the early 1980s, she gradually stepped away from modelling to focus on acting. She appeared in the fourth season of the television series "Miami Vice", acting alongside Don Johnson and Sheena Easton. In 1989, she played Eva Rawley in the sitcom "227", starring alongside Marla Gibbs. During the 1990s, she appeared in the films "Talkin' Dirty After Dark", "I Like It Like That" and "The Preacher's Wife". In New York, she opened her own restaurant on West Houston Street.
She was also known for her long-term relationship with Robert De Niro. Their love story began in 1988, and in 1995 they became parents to twins Airyn and Julian. The children were conceived through in vitro fertilisation and born by a surrogate mother. They separated in 1996.
Smith battled multiple sclerosis, a chronic disease of the central nervous system, in the final years of her life. In multiple sclerosis, the immune system attacks myelin, the protective sheath of nerve fibres, which makes it difficult to transmit nerve signals between the brain and the rest of the body. Symptoms of multiple sclerosis vary from person to person and can include numbness and tingling, coordination problems, muscle weakness and difficulty walking. There is currently no cure that can completely cure multiple sclerosis, but treatments are available that can slow the progression of the disease, reduce the frequency of relapses and alleviate symptoms.
