She was born as Zelda Paldi near Brockway Township, St. Clair County, Michigan, into a multi-lingual family that spoke French, Italian and English.

Her father, Justin Lewis Paldi, was a first-generation Italian immigrant engineer and horse breeder, and her mother Roxa Tyler was of English heritage.

[4] Merchant L.A. Sherman conducted an essay contest for his store's opening day, with Sears submitting the winning entry and being rewarded with a position as cash runner for the sales staff.

When her father died, Sears began reading the numerous play scripts in his extensive personal library, adding to her already considerable interest in the profession.

[8] Actress Sarah Bernhardt performed in at Chicago's Daly Theater in 1894,[9] and Sears initially set out to secure an interview with the star for the Herald.

[7] It was during her 1900 performance as the jealous murderess La Colombe in Wine and Women at the Boston Theatre, that she met her future collaborator, playwright Clyde Fitch.

[13] Under Fitch's influence, performing in seven plays written by him, she began to develop the stage persona she would become most identified with, a spinster wise in years but eternally yearning for marriage.