Born and raised in New York City, she attended the Ethical Culture School for theater from a young age and began starring in shows even while still a teenager.

While publishing short stories in popular magazines, Warde also began focusing more on script writing, officially abandoning theater in 1934 to move into radio production.

[2] The theatre roles she had available expanded afterwards, leading to her having a major position in The Music Master and a series of stock company performances in the years following at the theater she personally opened and organized.

[2] She stated in a 1922 interview with The Boston Globe that she strongly desired to become a theater producer and be involved in every part of production, including choosing the cast and the sets, even directing.

[7] During the same time period when she published her short story The Economist in the New York Daily News in 1934, Warde had officially quit acting and moved into radio broadcasting.

[9] Warde joined the commercial production department of the Columbia Broadcasting Company in 1934[10] and was noted by Peter Dixon in The World-News as having made "a reputation as one of the most skillful producers and directors in radio.