Toukie Smith’s family is facing a devastating goodbye, according to the supplied report. The model and actress, whose life reached far beyond her relationship with Robert De Niro, reportedly died at 74 after battling multiple sclerosis. Now, her children’s tribute brings her truly remarkable career and fiercely protected private world into focus, leaving loved ones facing an unimaginable hear… Continues…

The report attributes confirmation to Smith’s twins, Airyn and Julian, who said she died November 4 at a New York hospital. In their statement, cited as appearing in The Hollywood Reporter, they remembered their mother as “a force of nature.” Born Doris Smith in Philadelphia, she built a distinctive fashion career, working with designers including Hubert de Givenchy, Thierry Mugler and Issey Miyake. Bloomingdale’s named her Model of the Year in 1978.

Smith later brought her presence to television, appearing in Miami Vice before playing Eva Rawley on 227. Her film credits included I Like It Like That and The Preacher’s Wife. She and De Niro welcomed their twins through a surrogate in October 1995, during a relationship that ended the following year. Yet she valued a life beyond public attention. As she told the Los Angeles Times in 1990: “What’s great about a private life is it’s privateRead more below.”