 At age 4, she moved from Boston area to Washington D.C. as her father accepted a job at the National Bureau of Standards.Aged 8, she performed as Helga in "Helga and the White Peacock" at the Rose Robison Cowen’s Studio for Children's Theatre.Zelda Diamond's husband, Thomas C. Fichandler (August 9, 1915 – March 16, 1997), along with Edward Mangum, a professor of theater at George Washington University and Zelda's teacher, cofounded the Arena Stage theatre in 1950 in Washington.