Toukie Smith, Robert De Niro’s Ex, Dead at 74

Nevertheless, she joked, “I thought modeling was rough with rejection. Huh! Welcome to the real world of acting!”

But Smith’s life couldn’t simply be narrowed down into one career. In addition to acting as well as appearing in modeling campaigns for Chanel, Versace and Yves Saint Laurent, she also opened a restaurant, Toukie’s, in 1994. The establishment sat on West Houston in Manhattan and donated some of its profits to help those fighting AIDs in honor of her brother, who died from illness related to the disease in 1987. 

“I opened this place because big parties are one thing,” she told the New York Times after the restaurant opened, “but now it’s time for us to come together, to connect.”

Smith and De Niro—who began dating in 1988—welcomed Airyn and Julian in 1995 through a surrogate. The former couple split about a year later, but while they often stepped out together, they rarely shared more insight into their romance. As she told the Los Angeles Times when asked about the romance in 1990, “What’s great about a private life is it’s private.”