Her mother, Aurora Santorra, committed suicide in 1987.
Never had a biological child. Alexandre Brea Brito was adopted.
Started working at thirteen, as a model. Later worked at the theatre, before working for cinema and TV.
Together with Luis Carlos Miele, presented the program "Sandra e Miele" on Globo TV from 1976 onwards.
In 1993 she publicly revealed that she was HIV positive (a very bold move at the time) later becoming a famous activist on the cause of AIDS educating people about the disease and working with groups committed to the cause. She passed away from AIDS in 2000.