Speaking out for the first time, the heartbroken 63-year-old mom said Katherine may have tried to reach out to her before committing suicide, and Sanz believes Katherine would be alive today if the pair was allowed to develop a mother-daughter relationship.
“I feel that she wanted to know me,” Sanz said, referring to a mysterious Christmas card she received in 2025 signed with a question mark. “She’d be alive today if I were in her life. I might have been able to maybe help her.”
Sanz grew up in the Massachusetts foster care system, and as an emancipated 17-year-old, she moved to NYC to work as a housekeeper in Englewood, N.J., for acclaimed actress Renee Taylor.
When Sanz became pregnant, she claimed Taylor “put a lot of pressure on me to give the baby up” or lose her job. But the Oscar-nominated screenwriter denied the allegations and said Sanz voluntarily participated in the adoption process.
“She [Sanz] asked me to adopt the baby,” said the 93-year-old, who starred in The Producers and the sitcom The Nanny. “And I said no, I couldn’t, and I said I would find a good home for the baby.”