Robert De Niro's Ex Toukie Smith Dead Aged 74: Model and Mother of Actor's Twins Passed Away After Battle with MS
Robert De Niro's former partner and mother to his twins Toukie Smith has passed away aged 74.
Nov. 10 2026, Published 7:30 a.m. ET
Robert De Niro's former partner and mother of his twins Toukie Smith has passed away aged 74.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the ex-model, who also starred in TV series including 227 and Miami Vice, died in New York City hospital following "a long, courageous battle" with multiple sclerosis, according to a statement from her twins, Airyn and Julian Henry De Niro, 31.
'I’ll Always Love You, Mom'
De Niro and Smith's daughter Airyn paid tribute to ex-catwalk star on Instagram.
Airyn, 31, also mourned the loss on social media with a throwback photo of herself and her mother.
'I'll always love you, Mom," she captioned the post.
She shared the photo on her Instagram Story as well, writing: "Rest in peace, Mom."
Smith dated the Goodfellas star on and off between 1988 and 1996.
They met the same year De Niro split from actress Diahnne Abbott after 12 years of marriage.
The couple kept their relationship private and rarely spoke about it in interviews.
"What’s great about a private life is it's private," Smith previously told the Los Angeles Times.
Smith poses with family to celebrate her birthday.
De Niro And Smith Split Briefly Before Welcoming Twins
De Niro and Smith dated on and off for eight years.
Smith and De Niro's relationship was on-and-off, with the two said to split in 1994 before getting back together and welcoming their twins in October 1995 via surrogate.
Airyn, an aspiring model who was born male, made headlines in 2025, when she came out as a transgender woman with the support of her famous parents.
Their son Julian went on to portray the character Billy in the 2016 film In Dubious Battle, produced by James Franco, who also stars in the movie
Smith modelled for elite fashion designers including Versace, Yves St. Laurent, Chanel, Hubert de Givenchy, Issey Miyake, Thierry Mugler and her late brother Willi Smith, the "street couture" trailblazer who died of AIDS at age 37 in 1987.
Starring Role In 'Miami Vice' Alongside Don Johnson
Smith starred alongside Don Johnson in 'Miami Vice.'
Smith revealed she lost her mother the year before her brother's death, and said she worked on her grief by going to "therapy, support groups and did a lot of singing."
She moved from modelling onto the small screen from 1987 to 1988 with a recurring role on the hit crime series Miami Vice as Angie, the assistant to pop singer Caitlin Davies (Sheena Easton), the wife of Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson).
Smith also played building manager Eva Rawley for two seasons of the sitcom 227 opposite Marla Gibbs and Jackée Harry in 1989 and 1990.
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De Niro welcomed his seventh child with wife Tiffany Chen in 2023.
Her big screen credits included roles in indie cult hits such as Martin Lawrence's Talkin' Dirty After Dark (1991) and I Like it Like That (1994), as well as a role in the major studio release The Preacher's Wife, opposite Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington, in 1996.
After semi-retiring from acting, Smith opened her Southern fine dining spot restaurant, Toukie's, in 1994 at 220 West Houston Street in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood.
De Niro, now 83, has seven children in total from four different relationships, with the actor welcoming his youngest child in 2023, aged 79, with partner Tiffany Chen.
