Toukie Smith, the model-turned-actress who brought a glamorous comic spark to the final season of the NBC sitcom 227, died on November 4 at a hospital in New York. She was 74. Her sons, Airyn and Julian, said she died after a long battle with multiple sclerosis.
Born Doris Smith in Philadelphia, she started modeling in 1972 and worked with designers such as Thierry Mugler, Issey Miyake and Patrick Kelly, appearing in Vogue, Ebony and Cosmopolitan. Bloomingdale’s named her its Model of the Year in 1978. Her older brother, Willi Smith, founded the influential WilliWear label before his death in 1987, and she modeled for him too.
Acting followed. After guest spots on Miami Vice, she joined 227, the Marla Gibbs-led comedy about the neighbors of a Washington, D.C., apartment building, playing Eva Rawley from 1989 until the show’s 1990 finale.
Her film credits include I Like It Like That, Joe’s Apartment and The Preacher’s Wife. In the 1990s she also ran a namesake restaurant in New York City.
Our take
Smith’s place in Black comedy history is small but real: she was part of the wave of late-’80s Black sitcoms that put Black women’s style, timing and confidence in front of a mainstream network audience every week. Her career ran across fashion runways, sitcom sets and the big screen, and she brought the same poise to all of them. Black Comedy News sends condolences to her family.
Sources: Complex, The Daily Beast, Black America Web, Wikipedia
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