Zelda Sears

Zelda Sears (née Paldi; January 21, 1873 — February 19, 1935) was an American stage actress, screenwriter, novelist and businesswoman.

Zelda had various odd jobs, including a writer for a Chicago newspaper, before becoming an actress and writer. In New York she played comic roles on stage, learned shorthand, and even opened her own typewriting business. The impetus of her writing career occurred when she began to copy scientific articles for the noted surgeon Dr. William Bull. Sears observed life in his sanitarium and turned what she saw into a fictional story, which she sold to a magazine. Readers became privy to the inner workings of the institution by reading Zelda's The Name Above The Door. Her income grew after several more short stories were accepted for publication.