He was born in
Mount Carmel, Texas and studied at
Baylor University and
University of Texas. He became a lawyer at his father's firm before deciding to write for the theater and moving to New York after his father's death in 1905. While seeking out a producer for his work, he served as a newspaperman and Secret Service agent. He later used those experiences in his stories. His Broadway plays include such successes as
The Lure (1913),
At Bay (1913),
The Heart of Wetona (1916),
Moonlight and Honeysuckle (1919), and
The Son-Daughter (1919), ''Mrs. Hope's Husband
(1921), The Heaven Tappers (1926), The Girl I Loved
(1929), and The Moon of Honey'' (1929). Several of his works were adapted to film. During a 1929 Los Angeles performance of his play
Bad Babies, Scarborough, eight actors and the stage manager were all arrested for staging an "indecent and lewd exhibition." Scarborough subsequently sued the police for $50,000 of damages on behalf of the cast. His sister
Dorothy Scarborough was a novelist and musicologist. Around 1921, he married actress
Annette Westbay. They later wrote plays together. ==Theatrical works==