Inside Actress Toukie Smith’s Private Romance With Robert De Niro

As fans of “227” actress and model Toukie Smith continue to mourn her recent death, details about her fascinating life—and specifically, her relationship with acting legend Robert De Niro—are becoming fodder for conversation.

Not much is known about the couple, who dated for six years beginning in 1988. That’s largely due to Smith’s preference to keep that part of her very public life, well, private. But what we do know is that she and De Niro were romantically involved just a few months after his divorce from his first wife, actress Diahnne Abbott.

By the time Smith and De Niro got together, she had already been in the modeling game for about a decade after she attended the Fashion Institute of Technology, according to TV Insider. However, she would soon add dating the “Taxi Driver” star to her ever-expanding life. Over the next six years, the two were spotted out and about at various events, though they were intentional about not commenting publicly about what they had going on.

In fact, during an interview with the LA Times in September 1990, Smith famously said of her romance: “What’s great about a private life is it’s private.”

Related: Toukie Smith and Other Black Stars We Lost in 2026

However, four years later, it would seem that her feelings towards the “Goodfellas” actor may have soured, given her comments in a 1994 feature in The New Yorker. When the topic of their relationship ending came up, during an outing at her eponymous restaurant, she brushed off the conversation, telling the outlet briefly: “Oh, child, please.”

Her response was likely a result of their relationship fizzling out at that point. However, just after their breakup, Smith and De Niro would welcome twins via surrogate: daughter Airyn and son Julian Henry De Niro. In the announcement of Smith’s death in November 2026, the siblings described their mother as a “force of nature” who “left an indelible mark on our hearts and on everyone lucky enough to know her,” according to Page Six.

They also reflected on Smith’s legacy and impact in the fashion world, noting that her “beauty, grace and unmistakable presence helped pave the way for generations of Black models and designers in fashion.”

As we previously reported, Smith died on Nov. 4 following a long battle with multiple sclerosis. She was 74.