Ebony, May, 1990 by Laura B. Randolph
Who Is TOUKIE SMITH
TOUKIE's gone Hollywood.
The former New York supermodel breezes into Chianti's a chic L.A. eatery, blowing kisses at the waiters and electrifying the air. With her leopard print Patrick Kelly coat ("Honey, I have the last dress Patrick ever made"), black miniskirt ("I didn't lose 45 pounds for nothing, baby"), and mass of honey-blonde hair, there's no mistaking it: the newest start of NBC's hit comedy 227 has arrived. And from the moment her thigh-high suede boots hit the floor, even the seen-it-all L.A. dinner crowd is more than a little awed by her presence.
Toukie scarcely notices the stares.
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"Baby, I come from a family of women who, when they went to cabarets, their dresses matched their hair and their hair matched their shoes," she exclaims. "Look, I've had my hair black, pink, orange, white and blue. I grew up around women with style, honey, and they taught it to me."
While Toukie may be a newcomer to Hollywood, she's hardly a stranger to the spotlight. Long before she hit prime-time, she was a limelight veteran, primarily because of her close relationships with the rich and famous.
As the sister of the late, internationally acclaimed designer Willi Smith and the longtime companion of media-shy superstar Robert De Niro, Toukie's private life has been a constant, almost obsessive, source of interest to the media--and a source of great irritation to Toukie. "Baby, when people start asking me about my private life, I have an answer," she says snapping her fingers and drawing a Z in the air. "I say, 'Baby, do you know what private means? Do you know how to spell it: P-R-I-V-A-T-E, and that's with a capital P.'"
Born Doris Smith in Philadelphia 35 years ago, Toukie spent her 20s show-casing style with a capital S. Along with her better-known brother, Toukie used her show-stopping flair to build a big-time, big-bucks modeling career. By the end of the '70s, she was one of the most talked-about models in the industry. So much so that, in 1978 Bloomingdales named her its favorite model over a throng of blue-eyed, blond-haired competitors.
Toukie Smith
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Toukie A. Smith (born Doris Smith April 25, 1955 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), is an African American actress and model. Smith is the sister of late fashion designer Willi Smith and former long-term partner of actor Robert De Niro, with whom she has two sons. She is best known for her role as "Eva Rawley" for one season on the NBC sitcom 227. Her other credits include Talkin' Dirty After Dark, Joe's Apartment, and The Preacher's Wife.
Smith started her career in the 1970s as a model, working for such brands as Chanel, Versace, Geoffrey Beene, Issey Miyake, Norma Kamali, Thierry Mugler, and Patrick Kelly. She also had a successful print career, including a photo campaign for Yves St. Laurent as well as appearances in Vogue, ELLE, Ebony, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, and Seventeen magazines.
In 1978, Smith was named Bloomingdale's Model of the Year and became the first African-American model to have a mannequin designed in her likeness.
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