A LIFE IN STYLE

Robert De Niro’s Model Ex Dead After Health Battle

The twin children she shares with De Niro announced her passing.

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Actress and model Toukie Smith, best known for her role on the NBC sitcom 227 and her longtime romance with Robert De Niro, has died at 74. Smith’s passing came after a “long, courageous battle” with multiple sclerosis. Smith’s 30-year-old twin children with De Niro, Julian and Airyn, announced their mother’s death last Wednesday at a hospital in New York. In 1978, Smith was named Bloomingdale’s Model of the Year after posing for several magazines and designers, including Hubert de Givenchy and Thierry Mugler. The Philadelphia-born actress appeared in ‘90s films Talkin’ Dirty After Dark, I Like It Like That, and The Preacher’s Wife. Smith and De Niro began dating in 1988, though the timeline of their on-again, off-again relationship is unclear. They welcomed their children via surrogate in 1995. When asked about her personal life in 1990, Smith told the Los Angeles Times, “What’s great about a private life is it’s private.”